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Study led by DLSPH researchers named one of BMJ’s top papers of the last decade

December 19/2019

A landmark study led by a team of DLSPH researchers was named one of five key research papers to mark the decade by the British Medical Journal.

The paper, Twenty five year follow-up for breast cancer incidence and mortality of the Canadian National Breast Screening Study: randomised screening trial, was a 25-year follow-up analysis published by DLSPH Professors Anthony Miller, Cornelia Baines, Steven Narod and Teresa To on February 11, 2014.

The research team found that annual mammograms of women between 40 and 59 didn’t reduce breast cancer death rates compared to regular physical examination or usual care. It found annual mammograms often picked up a lot of small, harmless cancers that would likely never cause symptoms or death in a patient’s lifetime.

The list was compiled by Elizabeth Loder, BMJ’s head of research, who offered her thoughts on five publications that significantly engaged and informed readers on health care.

“Almost a quarter of screen detected invasive breast cancers were overdiagnosed, an important reminder that screening healthy people is not without risk,” Loder wrote about the DLSPH paper.

“When I read that [our paper] was one of five research studies selected over a period covering 500 issues of the BMJ and thousands of research articles, I found it spine-chilling and amazing,” said Baines, Professor Emerita at DLSPH.

Read more about the study.