Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor and one of the leading
causes of premature death among women worldwide. It occurs in all countries and age
groups. It remains the most common malignant disease in women in 157 out of 185
countries. Mammography is currently the most effective diagnostic and screening method
for the early detection of breast cancer. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to conduct
a systematic review of the literature on screening programmes for breast cancer detection in
European countries. We focused on the year of programme introduction, age range,
screening interval and level of participation in the screening programme. Methods: In this
thesis, we used the method of systematic literature review and qualitative data analysis. The
search for scientific and professional articles was conducted from 9 December 2025 to 20
January 2026 using inclusion and exclusion criteria in the PubMed, PubMed Central,
ScienceDirect and COBISS databases. Results: After reviewing the mentioned databases,
we collected a total of 3118 hits, of which 14 relevant articles were included in the systematic
review. We followed the PRISMA model, which clearly illustrated the steps that led to the
final selection of articles in the thesis. The studies were conducted in different European
countries. Discussion and conclusion: We found that most European countries operate in
accordance with European guidelines, which recommend screening women aged 50–69
years at two-year intervals and with a participation rate of over 70%. However, there were
significant differences in the implementation of the programme, especially in expanding the
upper and lower age limits. The most pronounced differences were found in the coverage of
the program, which is considered one of the key indicators of the effectiveness of the
screening programme. The results show that high participation in the programme
significantly affects the reduction of breast cancer mortality. The main limitation was that
the articles adressing the research topic are also from older periods, which can be a problem,
as some countries may have different or newer guidelines today, which can be researched.
Our research thus contributes to a better understanding of the importance of screening and
following European recommendations to achieve mortality reduction.
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