Breast screening women in their forties reduces breast cancer mortality, with little increase in overdiagnosis, according to a UK study out today.
Led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, UK, the research examined data from the UK Breast Screening Age Trial between 1990 and 1997, which randomised more than 160,000 UK women aged 39-41 to receive either annual mammography or the usual NHS breast screening which starts at the age of 50.
The study, published in today’s edition of The Lancet Oncology, analyses the 23-year follow-up results of the trial and finds that screening women aged 40-49 led to a 25% reduction in breast cancer mortality in the first 10 years.
They estimated that the total years of life saved from breast cancer in the intervention group was 620 – 11.5 years saved per 1,000 women invited to earlier screening.
They also say that the results suggest at worst modest overdiagnosis in this age group, and that any overdiagnosed cancers would otherwise be diagnosed at NHS screening from 50 years of age.
Lead researcher Professor Stephen Duffy from Queen Mary University of London said: “This is a very long-term follow-up of a study which confirms that screening in women under 50 can save lives. The benefit is seen mostly in the first 10 years, but the reduction in mortality persists in the long term at about one life saved per thousand women screened.
“We now screen more thoroughly and with better equipment than in the 1990s when most of the screening in this trial took place, so the benefits may be greater than we’ve seen in this study.”
Duffy SW, Vulkan D, Cuckle H et al. Effect of mammographic screening from the age of 40 years on breast cancer mortality (UK Age Trial): final results of a randomised, controlled trial. The Lancet Oncology. 11 August 2020
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(20)30398-3/fulltext
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