Mammography screening on healthy women - advantages and disadvantages

Studies from USA, the Netherlands and Sweden demonstrate that mamography screening reduces breast cancer mortality in women aged 50 to 74. Younger women do not profit. The results of mammography screening has never been compared with those of an organized health education programme for promoting self examination. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of mammography for screening purpose must be scrutinized. The consequences of false positive tests are at best anxiety, at worst needless breast operations. An estimate of such consequences for the female population in Oslo is presented