In Denmark, 20% of women get mammograms and 80% do not.

In areas of the country where the women got mammograms, breast cancer deaths fell by 1% per year over a 10 year period (1997-2006) among women who were 55-74 years-old, but in areas where women do not get mammograms, breast cancer deaths fell by 2% per year, twice as much as in the screened areas!

In other words, breast cancer deaths fell twice as much in areas of Denmark where women do not get mammograms compared to areas where women do get mammograms!

Among women who were 35-55 years-old, breast cancer mortality during 1997- 2006 declined 5% per year in the screened areas and 6% per year in the non-screened areas.

In other words, this study shows that mammograms do not reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer.

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For every 1,000 women in the US who are 50-years-old getting mammograms every two years, only one fewer breast cancer death will occur over 10 years, reducing the number who die from breast cancer from 5 women to 4 women, but there is no evidence that the total number of deaths is reduced because the radiation from mammograms and unnecessary treatment may cause one additional death from other causes, and out of every 1,000 women given mammograms, “490 to 670 women are likely to have a false positive mammogram with repeat examination; 70 to 100 [are likely to have] an unnecessary biopsy; and 3 to 14 [are likely to have] an overdiagnosed breast cancer that would never have become clinically apparent [and would never have caused them any problems],” according to a recent article by two Swiss researchers published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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“More recent studies suggest that mammography screening may no longer be effective in reducing the risk of dying from breast cancer,” concludes The Cochrane Collaboration.

“Screening produces patients with breast cancer from among healthy women who would never have developed symptoms of breast cancer.

“Treatment of these healthy women increases their risk of dying, e.g. from heart disease and cancer.

“It therefore no longer seems beneficial to attend for breast cancer screening.

“In fact, by avoiding going to screening, a woman will lower her risk of getting a breast cancer diagnosis.”

(The Cochrane Collaboration, founded in 1993, is a group of scientists around the world who analyze data to try and figure out the truth about drugs and other health topics.)

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More breast cancer screening does NOT reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer according to a new study.

The study looked at data from 547 U.S. counties.

Women who got screening mammograms varied from county to county from 39 percent to 78 percent.

Comparing counties where there was a 10% absolute increase in screening mammograms — for example, comparing counties where 50% of women were screened versus 40% of women were screened — there was NO decrease in breast cancer deaths.

1% MORE breast cancer deaths in counties with 10% MORE screening

The relative risk was 1.01, meaning there were 1% more breast cancer deaths where there was 10% more screening, but this difference was not statistically significant, meaning this difference could simply be due to random chance.

(It also suggests the possibility that women diagnosed with breast cancer radiation may INCREASE breast cancer deaths.)

80% more breast cancers diagnosed in the counties with the most screening, but NO decrease in breast cancer deaths

In counties with the MOST breast cancer screening versus the counties with the LEAST breast cancer screening, there were 80% more breast cancer diagnoses, (1.8 times more) but…

“We did NOT find any significant change in breast cancer deaths in this county-level analysis. This was quite surprising to me…” noted Charles Harding, lead author of the study, in an audio interview he did with the medical journal.

A one-minute audio clip from interview with the lead author, Charles Harding, is posted here.

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"Annual mammography to detect breast cancer is a needless expense and pain with no effect on all-cause mortality rates," writes Joel M. Kauffman, PhD, the author of Malignant Medical Myths: Why Medical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year, and How to Protect Yourself. Read the entire article | Email this article