This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Law, J Articles by Faulkner, K Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Law, J Articles by Faulkner, K

Two-view screening and extending the age range: the balance of benefit and risk

¹ Edinburgh University Department of Medical Physics, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU and ² Quality Assurance Reference Centre, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE4 6BE, UK

The UK Breast Screening Programme intends to introduce two-view screening on all screening rounds, and also to extend the normal screening age range at its upper end from the present 64 years to 70 years. The implications of these changes for cancer detection:induction ratios and for benefit/risk ratios are discussed. It is shown that both ratios remain much greater than 1.0 at all screening ages. This is also true for younger women, subject to provisos regarding starting ages for annual screening as described in previous papers. The requirements for optimization in a breast screening programme are also discussed. It is suggested that benefit (rather than the benefit/risk ratio) should be maximized provided that benefit exceeds risk.