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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Institute of Medicine
National Cancer Policy Board
and
National Research Council
Commission on Life Sciences

*****

Congressional Briefing
Wednesday, March 7, 2001 -- 2:00 p.m.
226 Dirksen Senate Office Building

on

Mammography and Beyond:
Developing Technologies for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer

by

Joyce C. Lashof, M.D., FACP, Professor Emerita, School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley and Chair, Committee on Technologies for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer, National Cancer Policy Board and Commission on Life Sciences, The National Academies

Craig Henderson, M.D., Adjunct Professor of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, and Vice-Chair, Committee on Technologies for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer, National Cancer Policy Board and Commission on Life Sciences, The National Academies

Janet K. Baum, M.D., FACR, Associate Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School; Director, Breast Imaging, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston; and Member, Committee on Technologies for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer, National Cancer Policy Board and Commission on Life Sciences, The National Academies

In the United States, the death rate among women with breast cancer has been decreasing by about 2 percent annually over the past decade, suggesting that early detection and improved therapy are having an impact on the disease. Despite these optimistic findings, however, the fact remains that film mammography does not detect many cancers. Mammography and Beyond: Developing Technologies for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer, a new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, methodically examines film mammography and 17 other technologies and their potential for effective detection of this deadly disease.

A briefing for members of Congress and congressional staff was held on March 7, 2001. The report was publicly released on March 8. The full text of the report can be found online through the Web site of the National Academies Press.