When a federal panel late last year recommended that American women in their 40s no longer need annual screening mammograms, my heart dropped, fearing that it might reverse the progress we’ve made over the last 20 years.
As Director of Women’s Imaging at Oregon Imaging Centers, I read more than 12,000 mammograms each year, so I can attest to the many lives saved by early detection.
Since the onset of regular mammography screening in 1990, the breast cancer death rate, which had been unchanged for the preceding 50 years, decreased by 30 percent. In my opinion, it has been one of the most successful, life-saving public health initiatives in the United States.
In November, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended changing the current mammography screening guidelines for average-risk women by beginning biennial screening at age 50, instead of annual mammograms starting at age 40. The panel also downplayed the effectiveness of breast self-exams and the need to screen women over age 75.
Those who served on the USPSTF panel included university professors, statisticians and representatives from major health insurers. Not a single person on the panel was a practicing radiologist, oncologist, breast surgeon or clinician with specialized experience in breast cancer diagnosis or treatment.
In addition, the panel based its recommendations on conflicting computer models and the unsupported idea that the parameters for mammography screening magically change at age 50.
The Pacific Northwest has the highest incidence of breast cancer in the country. No one knows why, but it’s clear there’s an elevated risk in our community.
In 2009 alone, Oregon Imaging Centers discovered breast cancer in 34 women under the age of 50; eight of them under the age of 40.
In addition, we diagnosed:
- 62 women ages 50 to 59;
- 71 women ages 60 to 69;
- 27 women ages 70 to 79; and
- 25 women ages 80 to 89
That’s a total of 220 women diagnosed in a single year. Had any of them followed these new recommendations and simply not done their breast self-check, had a clinical exam or been screened, the odds of them developing a more-advanced cancer would have increased greatly.
Despite the USPSTF recommendations, I encourage every woman over 40 to get their mammogram every year. And I am not alone. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the American Cancer Society, the American Medical Association, the American College of Radiology, the American College of Surgeons, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure all recommend annual screening mammograms beginning at age 40, sooner for women at high risk.
Mammography is an inexpensive, readily available and proven tool that detects up to 90 percent of all breast cancers. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we tool we have.
Do your breast self-exams, get a clinical exam by a qualified doctor, and schedule your annual mammogram. It’s the best way to detect breast cancer early, when it's most treatable.
