Guidelines for Early Screening of Breast Cancer in India: A Systematic Review

Breast Cancer is becoming the predominant cause affecting the life expectancy of women in India. The incidence rate and mortality rate from the disease are continuously rising in the country. High-income countries, despite a high incidence rate, could successfully achieve the mortality reduction by adopting organised screening programs. Against this backdrop, there is an urgent need for coherent, evidence-based early screening guidelines tailored to India’s epidemiologic profile, resource constraints, and sociocultural context. This paper synthesizes national and international evidence on screening modalities (CBE, BSE, mammography, and emerging technologies), programmatic experiences, and cost effectiveness to propose pragmatic breast cancer early screening guidelines for India. The objectives are to define context-appropriate target age groups, screening intervals, and to outline health-system and community strategies to enhance the uptake, equity, and sustainability of early detection efforts nationwide