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Biology dictates the fate of young women with breast cancer

Controversy surrounds the use of mammography for breast cancer screening. This commentary explains why retrospective analyses of women who die from breast cancer do not add to the body of knowledge about the value of screening in young women. Mammographic screening alone cannot be expected to overcome aggressive biology.

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Acknowledgements

M. Eklund is funded by the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS), project number 2012-0073.

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Correspondence to Laura J. Esserman.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Eklund, M., Esserman, L. Biology dictates the fate of young women with breast cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 10, 673–675 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2013.196

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