[Breast cancer screening. State of the art and introduction to preventive measures]

Carcinoma of the breast is the most frequent cause of death in women aged between approximately 38 and 50 years. At present, 1 out of 14 women in Germany and 1 out of 9 in America suffer from breast cancer within a life time. To date, modern methods of treatment and hormone therapy have only been able to increase long-term survival by about 12%. Trials have shown that early diagnosis alone has been able to increase survival from 20% to 50%. Early diagnosis proved to be most effective when clinical examination plus mammography in two planes was carried out annually. An increase in survival has been achieved in post-menopausal women as a result of screening. 22 percent of breast cancers were detected at a curable in situ stage by means of screening. Even after a limited screening program of 4 examination cycles the increase in survival rate over 15-20 years was significant.