Trial reportCancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology2010
False-positive results in the randomized controlled trial of mammographic screening from age 40 ("Age" trial).
Trial report in Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Is there excess mortality in women screened with mammography: a meta-analysis of non-breast cancer mortality.Trials · 2013Pooled it
- Screening for breast cancer with mammography.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Annual mammographic screening to reduce breast cancer mortality in women from age 40 years: long-term follow-up of the UK Age RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Trial
- Effect of mammographic screening from age 40 years on breast cancer mortality (UK Age trial): final results of a randomised, controlled trial.The Lancet. Oncology · 2020Trial
- Ultrasound as the Primary Screening Test for Breast Cancer: Analysis From ACRIN 6666.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2016Trial
- Subsequent mammography reduces recall and increases breast cancer detection: an audit of a screening program.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2025Article
- Multi-Class Classification of Breast Cancer Using 6B-Net with Deep Feature Fusion and Selection Method.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Article
- Personalized Screening for Breast Cancer: Rationale, Present Practices, and Future Directions.Annals of surgical oncology · 2021Review
- Deep Learning-Based Multi-Class Classification of Breast Digital Pathology Images.Cancer management and research · 2021Article
- Importance of quality in breast cancer screening practice - a natural experiment in Alberta, Canada.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Interpretation of breast cancer screening guideline for Chinese women.Cancer biology & medicine · 2019Article
- Comparing CISNET Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality Predictions to Observed Clinical Trial Results of Mammography Screening from Ages 40 to 49.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2018Article
- Evaluation of nipple aspirate fluid as a diagnostic tool for early detection of breast cancer.Clinical proteomics · 2018Review
- Cumulative risk of false positive test in relation to breast symptoms in mammography screening: a historical prospective cohort study.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2016Article
- Is the false-positive rate in mammography in North America too high?The British journal of radiology · 2016Review
- Beyond the mammography debate: a moderate perspective.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2015Article
- Breast cancer screening: an evidence-based update.The Medical clinics of North America · 2015Review
- Screening methods (clinical breast examination and mammography) to detect breast cancer in women aged 40-49 years.Journal of mid-life healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFalse-positive recall is a recognized disadvantage of mammographic breast screening, and the rate of such recalls may be higher in younger women, potentially limiting the value of screening below age 50.
methodsAttendance and screening outcome data for 53,884 women in the intervention arm of the U.K. Age trial were analyzed to report observed false-positive recall rates during 13 years of trial fieldwork. The Age trial was a randomized controlled trial of the effect of mammographic screening from age 40 on breast cancer mortality, conducted in 23 National Health Service screening centers between 1991 and 2004. Women randomized to the intervention arm were offered annual invitation to mammography from age 40 or 41 to age 48.
resultsOverall, 7,893 women (14.6% of women the intervention arm and 18.1% of women attending at least one routine screen) experienced one or more false-positive screen during the trial. The rates of false-positive mammography at first and subsequent routine screens were 4.9% and 3.2%, respectively. The cumulative false-positive rate over seven screens was 20.5%. Eighty-nine percent of women who had a false-positive recall at their previous screen attended their next invitation to routine screening.
conclusionsThe rates of false-positive recall in the Age trial were comparable with the national screening program; however, the positive predictive value of referral was lower. Experiencing a false-positive screen did not seem to lessen the likelihood of re-attendance in the trial. IMPACT: The question of greatly increased false-positive rates in this age group and of their compromising re-attendance is refuted by the findings of this study.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.