WHO position paper on mammography screening

A new WHO position paper examines the balance of benefits and harms in offering mammography screening to women after the age of 40 in a variety of settings. Every year, breast cancer kills more than 500,000 women around the world. In resource-poor settings, a majority of women with breast cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage of disease; their five-year survival rates are low, ranging from 10-40%. In settings where early detection and basic treatment are available and accessible, the five-year survival rate for early localized breast cancer exceeds 80%.