The 25-year old Dutch Breast Cancer Screening Program continues to satisfy expectations. Success is due to high quality and efficient organization, combined with a solid screening data recording system. The numbers of false-positives and overdiagnosis are less common than in some other countries, while the number of false-negatives is low. Full transparency and confidence about the results and (cost)effectiveness feed the lively effectiveness debate among researchers and in the lay press.

You will receive a letter with the results within ten working days. If abnormalities were detected in the X-ray pictures, your GP may get in touch with you.

Translated information about the breast cancer screening programme.

The National Breast Cancer Screening Programme is designed for women between 50 and 75 years of age. Once every 2 years, women in this age group are invited for a mammogram. The aim is to detect breast cancer at an early stage, when the prospects for successful treatment are greatest.

The National Evaluation Team for Breast cancer screening (NETB) has been entrusted with the ongoing monitoring of the Breast cancer screening programme. The NETB annually collects regional tabulated data on invitations, participation (attendance), screen examinations, referrals, assessment and screen-detected breast cancers including tumour stage. Data on interval cancers and breast cancer incidence and therapy are obtained after linking a file of screened women to the file of the national cancer registry.

This poster shows how population screening for breast cancer is organized in the Netherlands and the role played by various public and private organizations. It also provides facts and figures and describes the advantages and disadvantages and success factors of population screening in the Netherlands.