United States: According to the new recommendations from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), women are advised to get a mammogram once a year, beginning at age 40 and continuing until they reach age 55.
A volunteer group, USPSTF is comprised of the specialists who make a decision on the benefits which is crucial for decisions of physicians and companies’ health plans. After a certain implementation that demanded mammograms for every second woman older than 50, as CNN Health reported.
However, the decision about screening in the age group of women 40 years or above was made by an individual.
What does the new guideline state?
The new guidelines, published today in the Medical Journal JAMA, denounce the prior recommendations published in 2016 by the task force.
Moreover, certain organizations, for example, the American Cancer Society has suggested for women to begin undergoing mammograms in the age 40’s.
The revised USPSTF recommendation covers all people assigning their female gender at birth, including cisgender women, transgender men, and nonbinary people, as well as those with normal risk and those with a family history of cancer or with dense breasts.
These updated guidelines do not apply to the advice made earlier to those with a past history of breast cancer, like BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene or any other BRCA gene mutations and hereditary breast cancer syndrome, and also those who had radiation therapy around the breast or breast lesions which are categorized as high risk.
These cases are for those who choose to adhere to their doctor’s proposed plan or whom to talk to who will best serve them.
Dr. Wanda Nicholson, a senior associate dean and professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, and an USPSTF Chair stated, “We make this new updated recommendation because the latest science clearly shows that starting at age 40 and obtaining a mammogram every other year until age 74 can further reduce deaths in breast cancer,” as CNN Health reported.
What are the benefits of breast cancer screening?
The advantages of breast cancer screening include its help in diagnosing cases early. It helps in detection before cancer can even start to begin, therefore reducing the risk of losing life from the deadly disease.
As per the reports, breast cancer is said to be the second leading cancer in women in the US, coming just after skin cancer.
Nicholson while talking about the new guidelines said, “We can save even more lives — up to nearly 20% more lives — with this updated strategy,” as CNN Health reported.