General public mamma-gram screening programs directed at women aged from 50 to 65 years are a common practice in Spain and other European countries. After more than ten years being recognized as early detection programs for breast cancer A debate has opened about the effectiveness of mamma-gram screening to reduce the number of deaths due to this type of tumor. The author includes a wide bibliography and various data bases such as MEDLINE: 1989-2003, CANCERLIT: 1975-2002, CINAHL: 1982-2003, and EMBASE: 1988-2003; and realizes it is not simple to justify mamma-gram screening since there is a great diversity of opinion in medical literature.