Here is the latest update on screening for breast cancer. Includes new guidelines and recommendations on what age to start getting mammograms. The Task Force now recommends against routine mammography screening on women 40-49 years old.
Health Sciences reports, "However the American Cancer Society disagrees with the Task Force recommendations and notes that "Breast cancer is a serious health problem facing adult women, and mammography is part of our solution beginning at age 40 for average-risk women." The ACS still recommends annual exams beginning at age 40.
Other experts disagree as well. The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center also voiced concern and said they aren't changing their screening protocol and that their goal is saving more women's lives. Most experts agree, the decision to start regular, screening mammography at any age should be an individual decision made with your health care provider and should take into account patient context and patient's values regarding specific benefits and harms."
A must read! http://www.annals.org/content/151/10/716.full
Annals of Internal Medicine: Update of the 2002 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation statement on screening for breast cancer in the general population.
