Evaluation of breast cancer incidence: Is the increase due entirely to mammographic screening?

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the trends in the incidence rates of breast cancer in a population with mammographic screening and in the unscreened women within that population. Methods: Data consisted of incident cases of breast cancer notified to the Victorian Cancer Registry in Victoria, Australia, between 1988 and 1996 and cases detected in the population-based BreastScreen Program. These data were grouped by age (25-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and ≥ 70 years of age) and size of tumor (≤ 10 mm, > 10-≤ 15 mm, and > 15 mm). Poisson regression modeling was used to examine trends by age, tumor size, calendar year and availability of screening. Results. The incidence rate of breast cancer in the total po..