The outlook for women with breast cancer has improved in recent years.
Due to the combination of improved treatments and the benefits of mammography
screening, breast cancer mortality has decreased steadily since
1989. Yet breast cancer remains a major problem, second only to lung
cancer as a leading cause of death from cancer for women. To date, no
means to prevent breast cancer has been discovered and experience has
shown that treatments are most effective when a cancer is detected early,
before it has spread to other tissues. These two facts suggest that the most
effective way to continue reducing the death toll from breast cancer is
improved early detection and diagnosis.


Building on the 2001 report Mammography and Beyond, this new book
not only examines ways to improve implementation and use of new and
current breast cancer detection technologies but also evaluates the need to
develop tools that identify women who would benefit most from early
detection screening. Saving Women's Lives: Strategies for Improving Breast
Cancer Detection and Diagnosis encourages more research that integrates
the development, validation, and analysis of the types of technologies in
clinical practice that promote improved risk identification techniques. In
this way, methods and technologies that improve detection and diagnosis
can be more effectively developed and implemented.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1 Introduction
2 Benefits and Limitations of Mammography
3 Improving Breast Cancer Screening Services
4 Understanding Breast Cancer Risk
5 Biologically-Based Technologies
6 The Necessary Environment for Research and Development
7 Translating New Technologies into Improved Patient Outcomes
8 Recommendations
Appendix A: Breast Cancer Technology Overview
Appendix B: Workshop Agendas
Appendix C: ROC Analysis: Key Statistical Tool for Evaluating Detection Technologies
Appendix D: Common Weaknesses in Study Designs
Glossary
Index