How frequently should women undergo mammography screening?

摘要

At the end of the 1980s, scientific evidence was available from randomized trials demonstrating that active invitation to mammography screening could lead to a substantial reduction in breast cancer (BC) mortality as compared with noninvitation [1], Such evidence, and the relevance of BC as a frequent and lethal disease, justified the recommendation of mammography screening as a current preventive procedure [2], and free-of-charge population-based screening was implemented all over Western Europe by single nations' health services. Based on the existing evidence that demonstated a significant reduction of mortality for those aged 50-69 years [1], this was adopted in most European programs as the reference screening age, whereas no populationbased screening was offered to women aged 40-49 years, for whom the available evidence suggested a small, but not significant, benefit [3].