[Breast cancer detection and medicalization of public health]

The aim of reducing breast cancer mortality announced in the report on health in France published in 1994 strongly implicated the promotion of screening and early surgical treatment. However, this mortality has not evolved significantly in France, although more and more cancers have been found and operated upon. The increased prevalence rates of histological diagnoses of breast cancer obtained from the studies of autopsies published has shown that the screening has discovered non-terminal, benign cancers. It has been estimated that 120 of the surgical operations conducted per day in France in 1999 have been carried out to remove non-terminal, benign cancers. Public health has an ethical responsibility to face in terms of the allocation of resources and must remain vigilant in order to avoid excessive screening and unnecessary interventions.