Draft Recommendations Suggest Women Get Screened for Breast Cancer Every Two Years Starting at the Age of 40

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024 -- 10:01 AM

(Elizabeth Dohms-Harter, Wisconsin Public Radio) Women should get screened for breast cancer every two years beginning at age 40, according to draft recommendations under review by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

According to Elizabeth Dohms-Harter with Wisconsin Public Radio, the task force creates recommendations about preventive services for primary care providers. It last updated breast cancer recommendations in 2016.

Those recommendations, which are still active, suggest women ages 50 to 74 get screened every two years. Women ages 40 to 49 can decide individually whether to get screened, the guidelines say.

That diverts a bit from the general guidelines offered by the American Cancer Society, which recommends women get mammograms every year starting at age 45 to find breast cancer early.

But there is some consistency among those health organizations that screening cisgender women or all those assigned female at birth in their 40s at least every other year offers the best chance to catch cancer early.

The mixed recommendations are confusing, acknowledged Dr. Mai Elezaby, associate professor and breast imaging section chief at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and medical director of breast imaging at UW Health, during a recent appearance on “The Larry Meiller Show.”

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women, and 1 out of every 8 women is at risk of being diagnosed with it, according to the task force. The draft recommendations come out of research that shows 19 percent more lives could be saved by screening all women beginning at 40 instead of at 50.

But there are many factors that play into whether a woman develops breast cancer, and conversations about the disease should begin with doctors as early as age 25, the National Institutes of Health says.

Elezaby explained that together, a patient and doctor can look at family history to determine whether the patient has a “higher than average risk” for developing the cancer.

Then, they can make plans to start screening earlier. Elezaby said some people are predisposed to getting breast cancer because of inherited genetic mutations. But, she said up to 70 percent of women who get breast cancer don’t have a recognizable risk factor.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.