Year of birth: 1931

BIOGRAPHY

An internist who led the Canadian trial (CNBSS) comparing breast palpation with mammography, which he referred to as an RCT. It was not a population-based trial since women were recruited through GPs and announcements in the media. The randomisation process was fatally flawed as the women were randomised to mammography after breast palpation, using open-ended documentation. This was heavily criticised at the time, and when ancillary personnel began to retire, many individuals came forth with testaments of observed bias in the randomisation process, about which they had earlier been silent for fear of losing their jobs. The trial had a highly significant excess of advanced breast cancers in the mammography arm, leading to more advanced cancers and a non-significantly higher rate of breast cancer deaths in the volunteers selected for mammography. Miller claimed to L. Tabár and P.B. Dean, as well as to N. Day that his trial would prove that the Canadian radiologists were not able to detect breast cancer any better than the Canadian nurses were. The CNBSS leaders concluded, “In women aged 50–59 years, the addition of annual mammography screening to physical examination has no impact on breast cancer mortality.” Despite these serious deficiencies, the discredited CNBSS experiment has negatively influenced screening organisation for decades.