Getting a mammogram isn’t high on anyone’s to-do list, but the screening test has been proven to detect breast cancer early and save lives. Now, there are new recommendations about when you should start getting regular mammograms — and it’s significantly earlier than it was in the past.
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now recommends starting mammograms every other year, starting at age 40 and continuing until age 74. The organization is a volunteer panel of medical experts who make recommendations that influence doctor’s decisions about care and insurance coverage, making this change a big deal. Before, the USPSTF recommended that women start mammograms every other year, starting at age 50, noting that the decision for women to start screenings in their 40s should be up to the woman.
“More women in their 40s have been getting breast cancer, with rates increasing about 2 percent each year, so this recommendation will make a big difference for people across the country,” Task Force chair Wanda Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., said in a press release. “By starting to screen all women at age 40, we can save nearly 20 percent more lives from breast cancer overall. This new approach has even greater potential benefit for Black women, who are much more likely to die of breast cancer.”
Each year in the U.S., about 240,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women and around 42,000 women die of the disease, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Research has shown that women who have regular mammograms are more likely to have breast cancer detected early, are less likely to need aggressive treatments like surgery to remove the entire breast and chemotherapy, and are more likely to be cured, the American Cancer Society (ACS) says.
But the latest recommendations are still not in line with what the ACS and other organizations suggest around screening mammograms. The ACS already recommended that women start mammograms in their 40s (with the “option” to start between 40 and 44, and the recommendation that they definitely start by age 45). But the ACS also recommends that women get these screenings each year.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) also recommends starting mammograms at age 40, with follow-ups done every year or every other year, based on “shared decision-making” with a woman and her doctor.
The USPSTF’s updated recommendations don’t apply to people with a history of breast cancer or genetic markers or conditions that put them at a high risk of breast cancer.
An editorial published in JAMA Oncology says that the latest mammogram screening recommendations don’t do enough. “More frequent screening is particularly important in pre-menopausal women, and there are also more years of life to be gained from screening younger women annually,” the editorial says. The editorial also criticized the USPSTF for not addressing women with dense breasts, who have an estimated lifetime risk of breast cancer of at least 20 percent.
If you’re concerned about your breast cancer risk, talk to your doctor, and ideally one who specialized in women’s health. They should be able to help guide you on your personal breast cancer risk, as well as next steps.