Reduction in mortality from breast cancer: Decrease with screening was marked in younger age group

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7498.1024

BMJ 2005;330:1024 (30 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7498.1024

Letter

Reduction in mortality from breast cancer

Decrease with screening was marked in younger age group

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Based on a complicated statistical model, Olsenet al reported that the breast cancer mortality in Copenhagendropped by 25% for women aged 50-79 when comparing mortalityin the screening period (1991-2001) with a pre-screening period(1981-91) and claimed that this decrease was caused by screening.¹

According to Statistics Denmark, 217 breast cancer deaths occurredin Copenhagen in the age group 35-54 years in the period 1981-90and 196 deaths in 1991-2000.² By comparing these data with thosein the article by Olsen et al we calculate that less than 5%of the breast cancer mortality in this age group is caused bytumours diagnosed after age 50 years when women were invitedto screening. The number of exposure years increased from about484 000 to about 538 000. This gives a significant 19% (ageadjusted) reduction in breast cancer mortality in the age group35-54 years. No . . . [Full text of this article]

Per-Henrik Zahl, senior statistician

Norwegian Institute of Public Health, PO Box 4404, N-0403 Oslo, Norway

Jan Mæhlen, professor

Department of Pathology, Ullevål University Hospital, N-0407 Oslo, Norway jan.mahlen@medisin.uio.no

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