Norwegian Study: Breast Cancer Rates Soar after Mammograms

Here's another reminder that almost all medical procedures carry some risk: In four Norwegian countries, breast cancer rates increased significantly after women there began undergoing mammography every two years. The women who chose to pass up bi-annual mammograms had 22% less breast cancer.

A report just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association's Archives of Internal Medicine (Arch Intern Med. 2008;168[21]:2302-2303) reaches a startling conclusion. Breast cancer rates increased significantly in four Norwegian counties after women there began getting mammograms every two years. In fact, according to background information in the study, the start of screening mammography programs throughout Europe has been associated with increased incidence of breast cancer. Read more