Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Annual breast cancer examination programs are known to yield favorable survival statistics, presumably because of early disease detection. Earlier detection may be possible if examinations are scheduled more frequently. Since empirical evaluation of many such schedules is impractical, a mathematical model is used to obtain theoretical evaluations. Calculations using this model indicate that a semi-annual examination program may detect cancer significantly earlier than an annual examination program. Also, for mass screening programs, there appears to be a slight economic advantage if examination frequency is a function of age rather than fixed throughout life.
Kirch et al. (Wed,) studied this question.