Dr. Peter C. Gotzsche of the Nordic Cochrane Center in Copenhagen, a nonprofit group that reviews health care research said that this study counted the number of women who received a diagnosis of breast cancer and also died of it. They did not compare the broader breast cancer death rates in the counties. He explained that screening finds many cancers that do not need to be treated or found early. With more harmless cancers being found in the screened group, it will look like the chance of surviving breast cancer is greater in that group. ???The analysis is flawed,??? he said. Lead author Dr. Jonsson said the aim of screening ???is to find breast cancers early and to reduce mortality from breast cancer.??? He and his colleagues plan to look at the over diagnosis later, he said. Donald Berry, a statistician at MD Anderson Cancer Center, said the over diagnosis problem was a serious one. ???We are finding cancers that would never be found if we didn??™t look,??? he said. ???Small wonder people think screening is great - some of the cancers it finds were not lethal in the first place.??? Dr. Albert Levy of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City feels this clash of findings is confusing. ???The patients are naturally confused, as we practicing doctors are, hence the caution on changing recommendations too quickly,??? he said. Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition said, ???So many other studies that have been done, where the methodology is clear and very well done, have shown no benefit in this age group??¦ We need to focus on issues that will prevent breast cancer and that will truly save many lives.??? Dr. Lee Green, professor of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan speaking on over-diagnosis said, ???Analyses of screening have shown that there is a high rate of over-diagnosis, with many women undergoing radiation and surgery per woman saved, as well as many false positive mammograms??¦ It's not enough just to know how many women were saved, we have to know how many were hurt to save them.??? Dr. Ned Calonge, USPSTF panel chair and chief medical officer of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has not yet read the study but was concerned about the study design. He said the study will be included in the USPSTF's review of new studies. However, he was skeptical that it would result in any changes in their recommendations.

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At present, the American Cancer Society recommends annual screening of women 40 and older, while the National Cancer Institute recommends screening for women 40 and older every one to two years.