BMJ  2004;329 (28 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7464.0-c

Breast screening works less well in some groups of women

Mammographic screening is less likely to be sensitive and specific in women who have had breast surgery, thin women, and women taking hormone replacement therapy. At one year follow up after screening of 122 355 women aged 50-64, Banks and colleagues (p 477) confirmed that screening was less accurate in women taking hormone replacement therapy and found a similar effect in women with a low body mass index and those who had had a breast operation for conditions other than cancer. These conditions are all associated with denser breast tissue.

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Influence of personal characteristics of individual women on sensitivity and specificity of mammography in the Million Women Study: cohort study

Emily Banks, Gillian Reeves, Valerie Beral, Diana Bull, Barbara Crossley, Moya Simmonds, Elizabeth Hilton, Stephen Bailey, Nigel Barrett, Peter Briers, Ruth English, Alan Jackson, Elizabeth Kutt, Janet Lavelle, Linda Rockall, Matthew G Wallis, Mary Wilson, and Julietta Patnick
BMJ 2004 329: 477. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]