Review of the US preventive services task force?s statement on screening for breast cancer

Abstract

An evidence-based review was made of the systematic review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine regarding the guidelines for screening asymptomatic women for breast cancer in the United States. The US Preventive Services Task Force?s publication does not provide enough detail in the methodology to support a rigorous systematic review as outlined by both the PRISMA statement and the AMSTAR measurement tools. Several points within the task force?s statement are questioned because of the lack of research that was needed to draw these conclusions. An addendum is requested to better determine the methods used to conduct the systematic review as well as renewed research using digital mammography and/or a multimodality approach to screening women for breast cancer.