Is a mammogram the most effective way to detect breast cancer?

Mammogram: Mammogram is effective but, there are other procedures may give a better results such as mri.

To screen : It is the most effective way to screen for breast cancer. It is easy to do, it is cheap, it can be done anywhere. It is not the most sensitive nor the perfect tool however. Thus, it is always advised to combine modalities- breast exam, mammogram-and if there is a suspicion- combining mammo and sono and/or MRI will be more sensitive to detect breast cancer. Ultimately biopsy is to confirm of cance.

Yes but...: It is currently the most cost effective and scientifically validated method we have to screen large populations. In particular situations, MRI and/or ultrasound may be useful. MRI is the most sensitive modality for detecting cancer, but long term outcome data is not available, it suffers from too many false positives, it is expensive, time consuming, and not widely available.

Yes: it can detect @80% of breast cancers so it is effective but not 100%.