Nationwide breast cancer screening programme fully implemented in the Netherlands

The period 1990-1997 saw the implementation of a nationwide breast cancer s creening programme in the Netherlands, which provided biennial mammography for all women aged 50 69 years (50 75 years at present). The National Evalu ation Team monitors the programme annually collecting regional data on scre ening outcomes; regional cancer registries provide data on interval cancers and on breast cancers in unscreened women by linkage of cancer registry da ta to data on screened women. Of 4 million women invited, 78.5% attended fo r screening. Screening resulted in 13.1 referrals, 9.2 biopsies and 6.1 bre ast cancers detected per 1000 women screened initially (6.9, 4.5 and 3.5 pe r 1000 in subsequently screened women, respectively). Within the first 2 ye ars following screening 0.95 interval cancers per 1000 women-years were dia gnosed. The stage distribution of screen-detected cancers was more favourab le than that of interval cancers and of those diagnosed in unscreened women . The results are largely consistent with expectations. Results may nonethe less be further improved, particularly the detection rate in subsequent scr eens. (C) 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.