Review finds 25% of mammography detected breast cancers are overdiagnosis
April 23, 2010
About 25% of mammography detected breast cancers are estimated to be cases of overdiagnosis, according to a recent review in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "Overdiagnosis of Cancer," by H. Gilbert Welch and William Black, looks at overdiagnosis of several cancers including cancers of the breast, lung, prostate, thyroid, and skin. According to the accompanying editorial, the article should serve as a clarion call to acknowledge the spectrum of cancer behavior and the need to reclassify indolent lesions with a term other than cancer. "Cancer is a serious disease, but we have to redefine what cancer truly is," say the editorial authors Laura Esserman and Ian Thompson.
Read the NBCC summary.
Citations
Esserman L, Thompson I. Solving the overdiagnosis dilemma. J Natl Cancer Inst 2010 May 5; 102(9): 582-3.
Welch HG, Black WC. Overdiagnosis in cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2010 May 5; 102(9): 605-13.
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