Yearly Mammograms Are Still the Standard

Yearly Mammograms Are Still the Standard

An article released by MSNBC states that breast mammograms have contributed significantly to reducing deaths from breast cancer.

When the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPTF) released new recommendations for breast cancer screening guidelines in 2009, they were met with a lot of opposition from breast cancer experts and advocacy groups.not need routine mammograms, and women in their 50s should get mammograms every other year, as opposed to every year.

The Task Force's guidelines suggested that women in their 40s did not need routine mammograms, and women in their 50s should get mammograms every other year, as opposed to every year. "These guidelines contradicted years of messages about the need for routine breast cancer screening starting at age 40," stated Dr. Darlene Weyer, radiologist. "Yearly mammograms are proven to save lives."

The Task Force's recommendations were intended to spare women the worry and expense of extra tests.

Researchers at the University of Colorado and the University of Michigan studied the same risk models that were used by the Task Force and they were able to conclude that more frequent mammograms save more lives.

In the newest research, doctors found that annual mammograms starting at age 40 save 65,000 more women from breast cancer than mammograms done every other year for women 50 and older. Doctors from the University of Michigan discovered that women 40 and older who get yearly mammograms, reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer by 71 percent. If women followed the Task Force's recommedations they would only be reducing their risk by 23 percent.

Researchers stated that the Task Force's guidelines for fewer breast screenings would confuse women and ultimately result in more deaths from breast cancer. Many cancer experts, including the American Cancer Society, have never strayed from their long-standing recommendations of a yearly breast exam for women 40 and older, stating that mammograms have been proven to save lives by spotting tumors early, when they are the easiest to treat.

"An unfortunate thing in medicine has occurred. We take a step forward in medicine, and the task force takes two steps back," stated Weyer. "Sufficient evidence, our medical knowledge, and common sense says to do mammograms every year starting at age 40, and the task force states to not start mammograms until age 50, every other year. This will allow the cancer to grow, potentially spreading, causing change in prognosis and treatment plan and will lead to more deaths."

Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of death among U.S. women, after lung cancer. It kills 500,000 people globally every year and is diagnosed in close to 1.3 million people around the world.

Darlene Weyer, D.O., is the medical director of the Women's Health Center at Lima Memorial and is a breast imaging specialist.