Lancet
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effect of mammographic screening from age 40 years on breast cancer mortality at 10 years' follow-up: a randomised controlled trial.
The efficacy of screening by mammography has been shown in randomised controlled trials in women aged 50 years and older, but is less clear in younger women. A meta-analysis of all previous trials showed a 15% mortality reduction in invited women aged 40-49 years at study entry, but this finding could be due in part to screening of women after age 50 years. The Age trial was designed to study the effect on mortality of inviting women for annual mammography from age 40 years. ⋯ Although the reduction in breast-cancer mortality observed in this trial is not significant, it is consistent with results of other trials of mammography alone in this age-group. Future decisions on screening policy should be informed by further follow-up from this trial and should take account of possible costs and harms as well as benefits.