Mammography screening: a current controversy.
Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in women in the United States and the second leading cause of cancer deaths. Over the past several decades, there has been a concerted effort to detect and diagnose breast cancer in women at early stages using mammography, and a simultaneous increase in lawsuits filed against physicians for a delay in the diagnosis of the disease. Even though mammography screening has become a standard of care for middle-aged and older women, recent questions have been raised about the efficacy of breast cancer screening. After carefully reviewing the literature on this subject, I conclude that routine screening mammography in women older than 50 is an effective means of identifying early breast cancers and significantly reduces mortality.