Volume 99, December 2025, 102910Author links open overlay panel, , Highlights•

First study on biennial mammography screening's effect on breast cancer survivors' mortality rates.

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Invited breast cancer survivors showed a 10–12 % lower breast cancer mortality risk.

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Participating survivors had 36–38 % lower risk than similar non-invited survivors did.

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Highlights need for tailored strategies to boost screening participation in survivors.

AbstractBackground

Mammography screening reduces breast cancer mortality by approximately 25 % in the general population and might therefore also benefit breast cancer survivors. However, its impact on mortality rates in this group remains unstudied. We aimed to estimate the effect of mammography screening on breast cancer mortality in this population.

Methods

We used data from invitations to the regional mammography screening program in Funen, Denmark (1993–2007), before the nationwide program's rollout in 2008. Breast cancer mortality among invited survivors (study group) was compared to survivors of similar age in counties without screening programs (control group).

Results

The study and control groups comprised 2109 invited breast cancer survivors and 15,417 non-invited breast cancer survivors. Of those, 406 (19 %) and 3385 (22 %) died from breast cancer within the follow-up period. The relative risk for invited versus not invited at 22 years of follow-up was 0.88 (95 %CI: 0.81–0.97). The relative risk for participants compared to a similar group in the control group of non-invited breast cancer survivors was 0.62 (95 %CI: 0.51–0.76).

Conclusions

Mammography screening might reduce breast cancer mortality less among breast cancer survivors than among the general population. However, this is most likely due to a lower participation rate among breast cancer survivors.

AbbreviationsRest-DK

counties where mammography screening was not implemented

BCS

breast cancer survivors

BCM

breast cancer mortality

Keywords

Breast cancer

Screening

Survivors

Mammography

Mortality

Data AvailabilityThe datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are accessible via The Danish Health Data Authority. Access to these data is restricted and was obtained under a specific license for this study. Interested parties may request access to the data from The Danish Health Data Authority, subject to reasonable conditions [29].

© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.