Rapid Responses to:

NEWS: Janice Hopkins Tanne Breast cancer screening does not save lives, study says BMJ 2005; 331: 309 [Full text]

Rapid Responses: Submit a response to this article

Rapid Responses published:

Predicting the unpredictable

BM Hegde   (5 August 2005)

Framed message

Vasiliy Vlassov   (6 August 2005)

Predicting the unpredictable 5 August 2005
BM Hegde, Retd. Vice Chancellor Mangalore 575004, India Send response to journal: Re: Predicting the unpredictable	Dear Editor, Time and again studies like this have shown that time evolution in a dynamic human system does not depend on minor changes in the phenotype alone. Doctors have been predicting the unpredictable future of the hapless patients using these screening techniques that have become a big business these days. Death can never be predicted with any degree of certainty even in seriously ill patients leave alone by screening for any thing. Cancer biology also tells us that some cancers could kill themselves as time evolves. But the scare and the dread of knowing the screening result, be it true or false positive, could kill the victim! I wonder why the fallacy of modern statistical medical science's inability to predict the future is not being stressed in medical education? "Time has come" the Walruss said "to talk of many things." "Cabbages and Kings" and of screening fallacies! Yours ever, bmhegde Competing interests: None declared
Framed message 6 August 2005
Vasiliy Vlassov, Director Russian Branch of the Nordic Cochrane Centre Send response to journal: Re: Framed message	Dear Editor, the news item looks very strange. It says that while randomised trials proved the efficacy of mammography screening, this new study says that it doesnt work in the real world. It is completely, completely wrong. RCTs NEVER proved that mammography screening works. It is absolutely clear after Cochrane review by O. Olsen and P. Gotzsche. So, this news study support the data from RCTs. When reader look at this biased comment s(he) will be biased even more because screen is framed by advertisements of the mammography devices and invitations. It is not so benign to have the advertisements connected to the content of the journal item - these ads move the meaning of the message even more. They create the additional message: this CCS is wrong, it is against the current practice. Competing interests: None declared