[Early diagnosis of breast cancer]

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in Western females. After the controversy sustained over many years in which the rentability of early diagnosis and the secondary potential effects of periodic mammographies was questioned, nowadays there is no question about their value. Performance of these campaigns for the general population is going to permit the detection of smaller tumors and the possibility of cure for a great number of patients. Besides these advantages, early diagnosis will lead to more limited resections and breast reconstructions which are psychologically very important for women. In this article, besides showing the historical evolution of early detection campaigns and the reasons that led to demonstrate its benefit, we expose the indications, limitations, and characteristics of the different diagnosis tests, as well as the most profitable sequence of detection with its viability, sensibility, specificity, and also the frequency at which is nowadays recommended to perform this type of tests.