BACKGROUND: The efficacy of screening by mammography has been shown in randomised controlled trials in women aged 50 years and older, but is less clear in younger women. A meta-analysis of all previous trials showed a 15% mortality reduction in invited women aged 40-49 years at study entry, but this finding could be due in part to screening of women after age 50 years. The Age trial was designed to study the effect on mortality of inviting women for annual mammography from age 40 years. METHODS: 160,921 women aged 39-41 years were randomly assigned in the ratio 1:2 to an intervention group of annual mammography to age 48 years or to a control group of usual medical care. The trial was undertaken in 23 NHS breast-screening units in England, Wales, and Scotland. The primary analysis was based on the intention-to-treat principle and compared mortality rates in the two groups at 10 years' follow-up. This study is registered as an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial, number ISRCTN24647151. FINDINGS: At a mean follow-up of 10.7 years there was a reduction in breast-cancer mortality in the intervention group, in relative and absolute terms, which did not reach statistical significance (relative risk 0.83 [95% CI 0.66-1.04], p=0.11; absolute risk reduction 0.40 per 1000 women invited to screening [95% CI -0.07 to 0.87]). Mortality reduction adjusted for non-compliance in women actually screened was estimated as 24% (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.51-1.01). INTERPRETATION: Although the reduction in breast-cancer mortality observed in this trial is not significant, it is consistent with results of other trials of mammography alone in this age-group. Future decisions on screening policy should be informed by further follow-up from this trial and should take account of possible costs and harms as well as benefits.
BACKGROUND: The efficacy of screening by mammography has been shown in randomised controlled trials in women aged 50 years and older, but is less clear in younger women. A meta-analysis of all previous trials showed a 15% mortality reduction in invited women aged 40-49 years at study entry, but this finding could be due in part to screening of women after age 50 years. The Age trial was designed to study the effect on mortality of inviting women for annual mammography from age 40 years. METHODS: 160,921 women aged 39-41 years were randomly assigned in the ratio 1:2 to an intervention group of annual mammography to age 48 years or to a control group of usual medical care. The trial was undertaken in 23 NHS breast-screening units in England, Wales, and Scotland. The primary analysis was based on the intention-to-treat principle and compared mortality rates in the two groups at 10 years' follow-up. This study is registered as an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial, number ISRCTN24647151. FINDINGS: At a mean follow-up of 10.7 years there was a reduction in breast-cancer mortality in the intervention group, in relative and absolute terms, which did not reach statistical significance (relative risk 0.83 [95% CI 0.66-1.04], p=0.11; absolute risk reduction 0.40 per 1000 women invited to screening [95% CI -0.07 to 0.87]). Mortality reduction adjusted for non-compliance in women actually screened was estimated as 24% (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.51-1.01). INTERPRETATION: Although the reduction in breast-cancer mortality observed in this trial is not significant, it is consistent with results of other trials of mammography alone in this age-group. Future decisions on screening policy should be informed by further follow-up from this trial and should take account of possible costs and harms as well as benefits.
Authors: Marcello Tonelli; Sarah Connor Gorber; Michel Joffres; James Dickinson; Harminder Singh; Gabriela Lewin; Richard Birtwhistle; Donna Fitzpatrick-Lewis; Nicole Hodgson; Donna Ciliska; Mary Gauld; Yan Yun Liu Journal: CMAJ Date: 2011-11-22 Impact factor: 8.262
Authors: S Bryn Austin; Mathew J Pazaris; Lauren P Nichols; Deborah Bowen; Esther K Wei; Donna Spiegelman Journal: Cancer Causes Control Date: 2012-05-22 Impact factor: 2.506
Authors: Jeanne S Mandelblatt; Natasha K Stout; Clyde B Schechter; Jeroen J van den Broek; Diana L Miglioretti; Martin Krapcho; Amy Trentham-Dietz; Diego Munoz; Sandra J Lee; Donald A Berry; Nicolien T van Ravesteyn; Oguzhan Alagoz; Karla Kerlikowske; Anna N A Tosteson; Aimee M Near; Amanda Hoeffken; Yaojen Chang; Eveline A Heijnsdijk; Gary Chisholm; Xuelin Huang; Hui Huang; Mehmet Ali Ergun; Ronald Gangnon; Brian L Sprague; Sylvia Plevritis; Eric Feuer; Harry J de Koning; Kathleen A Cronin Journal: Ann Intern Med Date: 2016-01-12 Impact factor: 25.391
Authors: Jeroen J van den Broek; Nicolien T van Ravesteyn; Jeanne S Mandelblatt; Hui Huang; Mehmet Ali Ergun; Elizabeth S Burnside; Cong Xu; Yisheng Li; Oguzhan Alagoz; Sandra J Lee; Natasha K Stout; Juhee Song; Amy Trentham-Dietz; Sylvia K Plevritis; Sue M Moss; Harry J de Koning Journal: Med Decis Making Date: 2018-04 Impact factor: 2.583