Side-effects of screening

There has been a 42% increase in the number of mammograms performed outside the national screening programme (operating in Camberwell, southeast London) which was not anticipated in the Forrest Report, a document to the Health Ministers of the U.K. by a working group chaired by Sir Patrick Forrest. The report compiles recommendations on breast screening, using mammography and breast self-examination, to reduce the mortality in women aged 50-64 years. This 42% increase is attributable mainly to referrals from menopause clinics and general practitioners of patients mainly in the screening age group. When we looked at referrals from general practitioners, suspicious mammographic findings were reported in 20% of patients referred with a breast lump, in contrast to only 4% of patients referred with breast pain or nodularity. Better education of both the public and general practitioners, concerning the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, may reduce demands to perform mammographies outside the current national screening programme.