Study: Regular Mammograms Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer Death

In yet another large study seeking to determine the benefits of mammography, researchers have concluded that women in Sweden who got regular mammograms significantly reduced their risk of dying of breast cancer.

This study, conducted by researchers from Sweden, Britain, Taiwan and the United States, compared deaths from breast cancer diagnosed in the 20 years before screening was introduced in 1978 with those from breast cancer diagnosed in the following 20 years among 210,000 Swedish women.

Reporting in the journal The Lancet, the researchers said the study found that women who received regular mammograms reduced their the risk of dying from breast cancer by 44 percent compared with the period before mammograms became widespread.

But women who did not get mammograms during the later period still had a 16 percent reduction in their risk of dying from breast cancer, suggesting that some component of improved survival was no doubt attributable to improvements in treatment.

Nevertheless, the researchers concluded that even "taking account of potential biases, changes in clinical practice and changes in the incidence of breast cancer, mammography screening is contributing to substantial reductions in breast cancer mortality" in Sweden.

Other sources: The Lancet