Atlanta 2009/11/16 -November 16, 2009—The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) today announced that it is changing its guidelines for mammography and no longer recommends routine screening for women between the ages of 40 and 49. Below is a statement from Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer, American Cancer Society.

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The American Cancer Society continues to recommend annual screening using mammography and clinical breast examination for all women beginning at age 40. Our experts make this recommendation having reviewed virtually all the same data reviewed by the USPSTF, but also additional data that the USPSTF did not consider. When recommendations are based on judgments about the balance of risks and benefits, reasonable experts can look at the same data and reach different conclusions. ……

… The USPSTF says that screening 1,339 women in their 50s to save one life makes screening worthwhile in that age group. Yet USPSTF also says screening 1,904 women ages 40 to 49 in order to save one life is not worthwhile. The American Cancer Society feels that in both cases, the lifesaving benefits of screening outweigh any potential harms. Surveys of women show that they are aware of these limitations, and also place high value on detecting breast cancer early.

With its new recommendations, the USPSTF is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives; just not enough of them. The task force says screening women in their 40s would reduce their risk of death from breast cancer by 15 percent, just as it does for women in their 50s. But because women in their 40s are at lower risk of the disease than women 50 and above, the USPSTF says the actual number of lives saved is not enough to recommend widespread screening. The most recent data show us that approximately 17 percent of breast cancer deaths occurred in women who were diagnosed in their 40s, and 22 percent occurred in women diagnosed in their 50s. Breast cancer is a serious health problem facing adult women, and mammography is part of our solution beginning at age 40 for average risk women."

The Vancouver Clinic bases its practice guidelines on the recommendation of The American Cancer Society. The head of The Vancouver Clinic’s Breast Care Center imaging team, Dr. Jennifer Ochsner, commented “We continue to support annual mammographic screening for women age 40 to 49, as we agree with the American Cancer Society’s position that the lifesaving benefits outweigh any potential harm”. Dr. Ochsner completed her breast imaging fellowship at University of Washington under the mentorship of nationally renowned breast imager Dr. Contance Lehman.

To read the complete statement by Dr. Brawley, click here.