Breast cancer screening: false positive rate is lower in older women

BMJ 1998;317:599 ( 29 August )

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Breast cancer screening: false positive rate is lower in older women

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EDITOR $---$ Werneke and McPherson¹ question the detection rates of cancer observed in the breast screening programme in EastSussex, Brighton, and Hove that we reported in our recent paper.²They suggest that these are the result of a high proportion offalse positive screens. It is unfortunate that they did not consultus beforehand. The paper gives results of an ongoing study, butthe cancers reported are those confirmed by histological examinationafter surgery, not preliminary suspected cancers at "positive"screens. The statistical programme was not run until some monthsafter the end of the screening period, when all the screeningepisodes had been completed and the women concerned had been assessed,diagnosed, and operated on asappropriate.

The East Sussex area has always tended to have a high detection rate for cancer, possibly because of the local sociodemographiccomposition of the population, and the rate over this period . . . [Full text of this article]

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Extending the benefits of breast cancer screening: Ursula Werneke and Klim McPherson
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