The harms and benefits of modern screening mammography.

18 June 2014 It is difficult to understand why Drs. Elmore and Harris, two professors of medicine, are so much against early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in its early stages. They are commenting on mammography screening, but the real issue is early detection of the disease. They propose women not be diagnosed early because there is access to very expensive chemotherapy treatment with short and long lasting physical, cognitive, emotional and psychological damage; also, the advanced stage of the disease causes real human suffering. Their comments about the impact of treatment are speculation taken from thin air, without any supporting data. Without individual patient data nobody can tell the relative benefit of treatment versus screening, and none of those authors who are against screening have access to individual patient data!