The short answer is ‘probably not.‘ The research seems to suggest that in spite of a still unnacceptably high rate of false positives, once women reach about fifty years of age, there are clear benefits in regular mammograms and pap smears.
I am glad this research is being done – it is important to know when testing and intervention works and when it doesn’t. I wish the same kind of studies were being done on testicular and prostate cancer. In Australia, prostate cancer kills as many men as breast cancer kills women, but receives only one tenth of the research funding given to breast cancer.
