Mammography: Study proves effectiveness of screening in Germany
Mammography screening reduces breast cancer mortality in women by 20 to 30 percent. This is confirmed by a study by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection.
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The German mammography screening program reduces breast cancer mortality among participating women by 20 to 30 percent. This is the key finding of a comprehensive evaluation study commissioned by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt fĂĽr Strahlenschutz, BfS), which has now been presented.
The study (PDF) by a team of researchers from the University of MĂĽnster is based on the evaluation of data from 2009 to 2018, using two different approaches: a nationwide analysis of health insurance data and a survey of screening participation in North Rhine-Westphalia. In total, data from more than 10 million women was included in the study, making it one of the largest of its kind in the world.
According to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, this screening program is "the first systematic cancer screening program according to European quality standards in Germany and the largest screening program in Europe".
According to the calculations, around one in four breast cancer deaths in the target group of 50- to 69-year-old women are prevented by the screening program. The report explicitly points out that the results apply "exclusively to examinations within the quality-assured program" and do not allow any statements to be made about mammograms outside this type of early detection.
According to the Center for Cancer Registry Data (ZfKD) at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), around 70,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, which is one of the most common forms of cancer in women in Germany.
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Significance for radiation protection
The BfS emphasizes that the proven benefits of the screening programme clearly outweigh the very low additional risk of breast cancer due to the radiation exposure during the examination. This is confirmed by the program's approval under radiation protection law.
The funding of around 10 million euros was shared by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the Federal Ministry of Health, and the Mammography Cooperation Association. The latter being supported by the umbrella organization of the statutory health insurance funds and the KBV.
(mack)
