Objective: Study the contribution of breast cancer screening by mammography on the quality of diagnosis and treatment of patients admitted at Saint-Etienne University Hospital between 1985 and 2005.
Patients and methods: Descriptive and retrospective study of 473 breast cancer patients between 1985 and 2005, with a stratified sampling over the year, and comparison of the various characteristics between detected and not detected patients.
Results: Patients diagnosed by a mammography screening present, in a statistically significant way, smaller size tumours, less nodes and metastatic attacks, more conservative surgery and less chemotherapy. The rate of global survival after years years is increased: 93.69% against 86.94% for patients who did not participate in an organized screening (p=0,0471).
Discussion and conclusion: Mammography screening allows optimization of the health care. In the next years, we should continue the development of mass screening and convince the actors of individual screening to join organized campaigns.