Breast cancer screening methods: a review of the evidence.
Breast cancer remains a major health problem among Canadian women. Efforts directed at primary prevention of the disease are limited. Secondary prevention through screening appears to be the most promising intervention available in controlling the disease. In recent years, there have been ongoing debates over the effectiveness of available breast screening modalities (breast self-examination [BSE], clinical breast examination [CBE], and screening mammography). In this article I provide an overview of evidence related to each of the three breast screening modalities. The evidence shows that screening mammography and proper examination of breasts can be useful in reducing breast cancer mortality.
Vahabi
Mandana
M
Toronto District Health Council, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. mvahabi@tdhc.org
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D016504:Breast Self-Examination; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010808:Physical Examination; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity