The Value of Mammograms: Think Again

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Posted Monday, November 24, 2008 4:45 PM
The Value of Mammograms: Think Again
Sharon Begley
Yet another good friend told me over the weekend how she had narrowly (in her estimation) escaped death: she had had a mammogram a few months ago, a lump had been detected and deemed suspicious, surgery was scheduled, the lump was removed and found to be malignant. She is now starting the standard course of radiation, and thanks to the mammogram, she was telling me, her life has been saved.

Maybe. But maybe not. Since she can't re-run her life and not have the mammogram, seeing what would have happened if the lump had not been found and her cancer treated, we'll never know.

The trouble with mammograms is that