Screening for breast cancer produces benefits through cancers being detected earlier, thereby reducing premature deaths and the need for more intensive treatment. As with all screening, it can also produce harms such as false-positive screening test results. One way to improve the ratio of benefits to harms is through risk stratification. The main potential benefits of risk-stratified screening are via identifying women who are currently unaware that they are at increased risk and who can be offered more frequent screening and medicines for breast cancer prevention. However, it is unclear if these benefits would materialise in routine practice, whether additional harms would materialise and whether risk stratification is cost-effective.
