Topline
New research indicating fewer people could die of breast cancer if more start screening at a younger age led the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to suggest a change in past guidance to now recommend all women get screened for breast cancer every other year starting at 40 rather than 50.
Doctor Rim Villard looks at the results of a mammography, on October 9, 2017 at the Paoli-Calmette … [+]
Key Facts
The task force estimated that 19% more women’s lives could be saved if all women start getting mammograms–x-rays of the breasts–at age 40, 10 years earlier than previously recommended.
The draft recommendation that women get biennial screenings at a younger age comes as research shows that incidence of breast cancer in women 40 to 49 gradually increased from 2000 to 2015 and increased even more from 2015 to 2019, averaging a 2% annual increase.
The task force wasn’t able to give specific reasons for why there was an increase in incidence of breast cancer among women in their 40s, but an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine said two of the highest-risk factors for that age group are having “extremely dense breasts and first degree relatives with breast cancer.”
Dr. Carol Mangione, immediate past chair of the task force, told the New York Times: “We don’t really know why there has been an increase in breast cancer among women in their 40s … But when more people in a certain age group are getting a condition, then screening of that group is going to be more impactful.”
The new recommendation also seeks to address health disparities, noting that Black women have a 40% higher risk of dying of breast cancer than white women, but that more research is needed to fully answer questions of disparity in breast health.
The recommendation to begin mammograms at age 40 is for women at average risk of breast cancer; the task force said there is still not enough evidence to determine the best course of screening for women 75 and older or women with dense breasts, and it recommends those women consult their doctors about a screening schedule.
Key Background
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and second most common cause of cancer death for women in the U.S., according to a news release from the task force. In 2009, the recommended age to start screening was 40, but the task force shifted it in 2016, to recommend women get biennial screenings from 50-74 out of concern that early screening could cause more harm than good. At that point, they recommended women in their 40s decide whether or not to start mammograms based on their individual health history and preferences.
Big Number
43,250. That’s about how many women died of breast cancer in the U.S. in 2022.
Further Reading
Draft Recommendation: Breast Cancer: Screening (United States Preventive Services Task Force)
Women should start getting mammograms at 40 not 50, major health panel says (Axios)
Screen women for breast cancer at 40, instead of 50, new guidelines say (NBC News)
When Should Women Get Regular Mammograms? At 40, U.S. Panel Now Says. (New York Times)