Benefits of Widespread Mammography Overestimated?

The debate goes on. A recent study from the New England Journal of Medicine claims that “More than half of breast cancers newly diagnosed in the United States are likely cases of mistaken identity that subject women to needless anxiety, treatment and expense, researchers reported Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.” Read the full article By Melissa Healy from the Los Angeles Times: The study follows earlier work published in the NEJM in 2012 from Welch and Dr. Archie Bleyer of Oregon Health and Science University, which concluded that overdiagnosis accounted for nearly a third of all newly diagnosed breast cancers. As with the 2012 paper, this study has elicited an immediate response, among prominent breast radiologists and within the radiology community who have criticized Welch’s work in the past. An article posted in AuntMinnie.com (A Radiology news website) by Dr. Daniel Kopans refutes this study. The assumption