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Implementation of a breast cancer screening program has a "profound impact" on breast cancer mortality, according to a study in the Netherlands.

Implementation of a breast cancer screening program has a "profound impact" on breast cancer mortality, according to a study in the Netherlands.

"About five years after the introduction of a breast cancer screening program, the mortality rates for the age groups likely to be affected by screening show a much larger decline than the non-screened age groups," Dr. Johannes D. M. Otten and colleagues write in the International Journal of Cancer for October 15. Earlier studies had indicated that declines that large would not be observed for up to ten years after the start of such programs.

Dr. Otten, at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, and his team examined changes in breast cancer trends from 1975 to 2006 during the gradual phase-in of the Dutch breast cancer screening program. Starting in 1989, women aged 50-69 were invited for screening. Coverage of the target population increased from 11 per cent in 1990 to its full population capacity in 1996. In 1997, the upper age limit was extended to 75 years, and expanded to include all eligible women by 2001.

Data from Dutch registries indicated that, from 1975 to 2003, the absolute number of women with newly diagnosed invasive breast cancer doubled, the authors report. For the period 1989-2003, the number of cases of noninvasive breast cancer tripled.

However, the age-adjusted mortality rates declined from 69.9 per 100,000 in 1975 to 53.9 per 100,000 in 2006.

The effect of screening on mortality appeared to increase with increasing age after age 45.

Thus, for women ages 45-54, mortality rates steadily decreased by 1.8 per cent per year between 1971 and 1980, and by 1.9 per cent per year for 1992-2006. For women aged 55-64 and those aged 65-74, mortality rates fell by 2.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent per year, respectively, after 1994.

For the oldest age group who were invited for screening in their 70th-74th year, the mortality rate declined by 4.8 per cent per year after 2001.

The authors conclude, "The results indicate an impressive decrease in breast cancer mortality in the age group invited for breast cancer screening, starting quite soon after implementation."

Int J Cancer 2008;123:1929-1934