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Cancer Screening, Diagnosis and Care

European guidelines on breast cancer screening and diagnosis


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1. Organising screening programmes


Organised vs. non-organised screening

Issued on: November 2017

Healthcare question

Healthcare question

Should an organised mammography screening programme vs. an opportunistic or non-organised mammography screening programme be used for early detection of breast cancer in asymptomatic women?

Recommendation

Recommendation

The ECIBC's Guidelines Development Group (GDG) recommends using an organised mammography screening programme for early detection of breast cancer in asymptomatic women.

Recommendation strength

Strong recommendation
Moderate certainty of the evidence

Justification

Justification

The GDG recommends by consensus that organised screening programmes should be used over opportunistic or non-organised mammography screening programmes on both the research evidence presented and the additional considerations noted above by the GDG.

Considerations for implementation and policy making

Considerations
  • Information from local contexts and "grey literature" may provide additional evidence on the cost-effectiveness of this intervention in different settings.
  • This recommendation only applies to the age groups where the GDG has recommended screening.
  • The GDG noted that there may be barriers to implementation based on the resistance to organised screening programmes of some professionals.
  • The GDG agreed there is room for improvement in developing information material that is more acceptable to women invited to screening.

Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation

Appropriateness and adherence to protocols for organised screening programmes.

Research priorities

Research priorities

Additional research on the cost-effectiveness of organised screening in different settings is suggested. 

Supporting material

yes