On Monday, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended radical changes to the clinical guidelines for screening mammography. The USPSTF suggested that women should begin receiving screening mammograms at age 50. The current standard of care is for all women to begin screening mammography at age 40. The task force did not recommend any change to the current practice of providing screening mammography to women with certain known risk factors, such as a family history of breast cancer.
|
“While we acknowledge that screening mammography is not perfect – no screening test is – we believe that there are enough proven benefits associated with starting screening mammograms at age 40 to continue doing so,” said Robyn Birdwell, MD, Director of Breast Imaging at BWH. |
Screening mammography has proven effective at catching breast cancer at early stages, when the disease is much more treatable. Screening mammography has also proven to save lives in women between the ages of 40 – 49. Data from studies around the world have shown a range of 15 – 40% reduction in deaths from breast cancer. In the United States, deaths from breast cancer have continued to decrease since the 1990s.
Since the announcement from USPSTF, most major organizations who are directly involved in caring for women with breast cancer have come out against this statement, including
The American Cancer Society,
The American College of Radiology,
The Society of Breast Imaging, the American Society of Breast Disease and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The US Preventive Services Task Force is an independent federally funded panel of researchers and non-cancer care clinicians which makes recommendations about a broad range of clinical preventive services. The USPSTF does not set official federal policy about what services are covered by the federal government. In her official response, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said, “The task force has presented some new evidence for consideration but our policies remain unchanged.” Similarly, there is no indication that public or private insurers are moving to change their mammography coverage in light of the recommendations by the USPSTF.
“As with any health decision, the best way to approach it is to speak with your primary care doctor. He or she will be able to best assess your own medical history and other factors that may influence whether to begin screening mammography at age 40 or at an earlier age,” said Dr. Birdwell.
