Do Breast Self-Exams Work?

Quite a few women were secretly relieved last week to hear the conclusion of a Chinese study, reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, that performing breast self-exams does not affect the risk of dying from breast cancer. Many women don't like doing a full examination of their breasts and often feel guilty that they don't do one every month.

Here are the details of the study: 266,000 female factory workers in Shanghai (where mammograms are rare) were divided into two groups. One was taught how to perform breast self-exams and reminded to do so regularly, while the...