Case 15-2010: Mammography in Elderly Women

To the Editor: To justify routine screening mammography in older women, Muss et al. (May 20 issue) 1 cite Badgwell et al., 2 who observed that breast cancer was detected at a lower stage and was associated with a higher rate of survival among women 80 years of age or older who underwent mammography than among those who did not undergo mammography. Berry et al. 3 have pointed out that these authors ignored fundamental lead and length biases, and therefore any claim of a mortality benefit associated with screening mammography is voided. Muss et al. correctly state that there is little evidence from . . .