According to a new report published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, radiologists, especially those recently graduated from medical school, report false-positive cancer readings up to nearly 16 percent of the time when reading mammogram X-rays. As part of a study on the benefits of mammography, researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine assessed mammogram readings from 2,169 women taken by 24 radiologists from 1985 to 1993. False positive rates ranged from 2.6 percent to 15.9 percent, with recently trained physicians mistakenly diagnosing breast cancer two to four times more than experienced radiologists. The report suggests that women see the same physician each time they undergo a mammogram so the radiologist is able to compare past X-rays, which will significantly reduce a woman's odds of receiving a false-positive diagnosis.

Earlier this year, two Danish scientists concluded that undergoing regular mammograms may not help prevent breast cancer deaths. In their report, the scientists concluded that mammography is designed to be sensitive enough to detect the "possibility" of cancer, which can lead to false-positive results, as many abnormalities turn out to be benign. As a result, according to researchers, women undergo unwarranted stress and even overtreatment because of mammography errors.