Population Screening
What is the difference between screening and diagnostic mammography?
There are two types of mammography services available to women, screening and diagnostic.
Screening mammography aims to detect unsuspected lesions in asymptomatic women. The BreastScreen Program provides screening mammography for asymptomatic women for the early detection of breast cancer and does not require a doctor's referral. Emphasis is placed on population benefit.
Diagnostic mammography is conducted outside the BreastScreen Queensland Program and is used to diagnose breast changes or abnormalities in women presenting with symptoms. A doctor’s referral is required and it is not free, unless performed at a public hospital, but a Medicare rebate is available. Emphasis is on individual benefit.
For a summary of the differences, refer to the Screening vs Diagnostic Mammography information sheet.
Population screening
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Australian women. It is estimated that one in eleven Australian and one in ten Queensland women will develop breast cancer if they live to 75 years of age. About 2,600 women die each year as a result of breast cancer and the five year survival rate for women diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia is approximately 84 per cent (ie. a woman diagnosed with breast cancer has a 82.8 per cent chance of survival for the next five years - AIHW, 2003). This survival rate depends on the tumour size and time of diagnosis. Refer to the breast cancer or risk factors pages for more information. View the latest published five-year relative cancer survival data for Queensland from the Health Information Centre.
Population based breast cancer screening using mammography is provided by the Queensland Health BreastScreen Queensland Program as part of the national program, BreastScreen Australia, and:
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is performed in an organised and systematic manner
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for eligible, asymptomatic women on a population basis
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for the purpose of detecting unsuspected breast cancer at an early stage
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so that treatment is simplified and recovery time is reduced.
A statement from the International Agency for Research on Cancer about mammography screening concludes that organised screening programs are more effective in reducing the rate of death from breast cancer than sporadic screening of selected groups of women.
This public health program meets the World Health Organisation criteria for population screening.
View BreastScreen Queensland key results.
Screening population
Eligible Population
Screening mammography every two years is available to women aged 40 years and over in Queensland through the Queensland Health BreastScreen Queensland Program. The eligible population then refers to all women aged 40 years and over.
Target Group
Women aged 50 to 69 years are specifically targeted for the Queensland Health BreastScreen Queensland Program for biennial screening because this is the age group where studies have demonstrated significant reductions in morbidity and mortality from breast cancer among those participating in regular screening mammography.
Refer to the Who Can Have a Breastscreen? page for more information about age eligibility.
Critical success factors
For BreastScreen Queensland to achieve its goal of reducing deaths from breast cancer cost effectively and efficiently, the following factors are critical:
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A high level of participation (70 per cent) from women aged 50 to 69 years is necessary to ensure that a reduction in mortality is achieved and that the Program is cost effective, as the cost per woman screened decreases with increased participation.
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High quality screening mammography is essential and statewide technical quality assurance needs to be maintained.
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A high standard of film reading and integrated high quality multidisciplinary follow-up assessment and diagnosis must be maintained to achieve the outcomes of the Program. The availability of a trained workforce is critical to the success of BreastScreen Queensland.
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While outside the scope of the Queensland Health BreastScreen Queensland Program, high quality, appropriate treatment and ongoing management of breast cancers detected by the Program is critical.
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