Surgical assessment of benign breast disease in screening

In summary, the purpose of breast screening is to identify early cancers with the aim of reducing mortality from the disease. However, the specificity of mammography is such that a considerable number of women will require assessment for benign disease particularly in the prevalent round. Knowledge of the particular types of benign breast disease which are commonly seen in screening, together with careful assessment using the techniques which have been described, will allow the benign to malignant biopsy rates to be kept acceptable without missing the very lesions which screening hopes to identify.