November 20, 2014

The natural history of screen-detected breast cancers is not well understood.  In this Swedish study, women aged 40-49 years were screened every year and women aged 50-74 were screened every 2 years.  All women were followed up after 6 years as well as the control group who went 4 years without screening.  The study authors believed that many invasive breast cancers detected by repeated mammography screening do not persist at the end of the 6 years, suggesting that the natural course of many of the screen-detected invasive breast cancers is to spontaneously regress.

Here is the link to the study:

Natural History of Breast Cancers Detected in the Swedish Mammography Screening Programme:  A Cohort Study

God bless you and to your good health!

Joyce Gibb MS, CRNP