1997 Volume 6 Issue 2 Pages 255-261
The benefit of mass screening for breast cancer becomes small when the sensitivity of screening mammography (MMG) decreases, and thus the benefit in terms of lives saved could be smaller than that of risk due to radiation exposure. In this study we carried out risk-benefit analysis of breast cancer mass screening for screening MMG sensitivites of 88% and 60%. The results showed that the age at which risk was equal to benefit became older with lower sensitivity, although the difference of age was not large. The age for equal risk and benefit was a little lower than the 25-29 year-old group for a sensitivity of 88%, whereas the age was slightly higher than 25-29 yr for a sensitivity of 60%. In conclusion, the age of screenees at which risk and benefit intersect does not change greatly when the senisitivity varies between 60% and 88%, provided that other conditions of mass screening do not change. Thus, the starting age of 35 for breast cancer mass screening in Japan is justified from the viewpoint of risk-benefit analysis.
