Extending the target age of mammography screening or the scope of senology?

In Italy, the extension of the age range eligible for mam-mography screening to 45-74 years was accepted by na-tional guidelines in 2006, much earlier than elsewhere in Europe. The ultimate rationale was to increase the mod-est proportion of screen-detected cancers out of total in-cident breast cancers in the general female population. This comment aims to emphasize that extending the reach of the mammography age boundaries to include younger and older women is not the only way to enlarge the protection of screening upon the female population. Another, and complementary, option is to extend to spe-cialist breast centres some of the main cornerstones of the theory of mammography screening, that is, the ad-herence to evidence-based guidelines, the monitoring and publication of results of breast cancer control at the population level, the taking of responsibility for the ob-served failures, and the adoption of proper actions.