There’s concern and controversy over new recommendations about who should get mammograms. A new government panel says women in their 40s don’t need to be screened, but not everyone agrees.
A new government task force says women should start screening for breast cancer at age 50, not 40. The American Cancer Society disagrees, and many women are deeply confused about what to do.
It’s the test women love to hate. Mammograms are special x-rays that screen for signs of cancer. Radiologists refer women with suspicious-looking results for biopsies. Dr. Pamela Otto, Director of Breast Imaging and Intervention at the UTHSC Cancer Therapy & Research Center, says it’s a test that’s been proven to save lives.
“20% of women are not screened on a regular basis,” Otto explained. “75% of the breast cancer mortalities are in that 20% of women.”
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says it believes early and frequent screenings lead to many false alarms and unnecessary biopsies. San Antonian Eileen Lundin believes it’s a practice that saved her life. 13 years ago, a routine mammogram pinpointed the unseen threat.
“No lump. No bump,” Lundin remembered. “Nothing that would have given away the fact that by then, I had a five centimeter lesion which, if it hadn’t been caught by mammogram, I would be dead.”
The CTRC performs 30,000 mammograms each year. Otto says for now, her facility’s recommendations of yearly screenings for women after 40 won’t change. But she’s concerned what happens next with this stunning reversal in government policy.
“I’m worries that they will change coverage for mammography,” she stated. “I’m concerned that our ladies will become confused about what they need to do.”
Lundin says she finds the new guidelines “distressing” because “what I see is women who would love to have an excuse not to have a mammogram.”
So what are women to do? Nothing is changing immediately, as far as health insurance coverage. If you are 40 or older, you should probably talk to you referring physician about the pros and cons of yearly screening mammograms.
