In a paper presented at the European Breast Cancer Conference on March 21, 2014, studies out of the Netherlands concluded that doing mammograms in women from age 70-75 as a screening test did not reduce the incidence of advanced stage breast cancer or save lives. They did report that doing mammograms in this age group led to unnecessary overdiagnosis and overtreatment as well as exposing them to radiation.
Mammograms, it seems, are not a good screening test at any age. The main value of mammography is in those women who have abnormal breast findings. For screening, mammography is on the way out and breast thermography should be on the way in!
