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Breast cancer

Doubtful health benefit of screening from 40 years of age

Results of the UK Age trial suggest a significant benefit of annual mammography initiated at 39–41 years of age in preventing breast-cancer deaths occurring before the age of 50 years; however, this approach had no effect on the risk of breast-cancer death occurring before the age of 60 years and leads to prolonged deteriorations in quality of life owing to overdiagnosis.

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Correspondence to Philippe Autier.

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Autier, P. Doubtful health benefit of screening from 40 years of age. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 12, 570–572 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2015.162

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