SCREENING women aged 50 to 69 for breast cancer does save lives, according to the World Health Organization. But the benefits of mammography for younger women are less clear-cut. There is also no evidence that manual breast examination by doctors or women themselves does any good.
There has been a big debate about whether mammography is worthwhile since two Danish researchers questioned the validity of studies suggesting that it is effective (New Scientist, 15 January 2000, p 3). Now the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France, which is funded by the WHO, has reviewed all…
