[Breast cancer screening : present situation and prospects]

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Public Health
• Clinical Trials

Background:

• Belgium exhibits the world's highest age-standardized breast cancer incidence and third-highest specific mortality.
• Current European Union-recommended age-based screening programs show questionable impact on mortality and advanced tumors, with potential harms like over-diagnosis.
• Existing screening programs in Belgium, established in 2001, have not demonstrably improved upon the general European trend of a 2% annual mortality decline.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a risk-stratified breast cancer screening strategy.
• To compare the effectiveness of personalized screening against standard age-based protocols.
• To reduce over-diagnosis and false positives associated with current screening methods.

Main Methods:

• The European My Personal Breast Screening (My PeBS) study is a multicenter randomized clinical trial.
• The study will involve 85,000 volunteers.
• Risk stratification will incorporate factors such as family history, breast density, and genetic variants.

Main Results:

• This section is not applicable as the study is ongoing and results are not yet available.

Conclusions:

• A risk-stratified approach holds promise for optimizing breast cancer screening.
• Personalized screening strategies may offer improved efficacy and safety over uniform age-based guidelines.
• Further research is needed to validate the benefits of risk-stratified screening in diverse populations.