If you are 40, hold the mammogram!
posted in - Jimbo, - Medical Updates |The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends against routine screening mammography for average-risk women aged 40 to 49. This represents a change from the USPSTF’s 2002 recommendation statement, which advocated for routine screening starting at age 40.
Among the task force’s other updates, published in Annals of Internal Medicine:
* Screening mammography should be performed every 2 years for average-risk women aged 50 to 74.
* Evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against screening in women 75 or older.
* Clinicians should not teach women how to perform breast self-exams.
* Evidence is insufficient to make recommendations on using clinical breast exams in addition to mammography.
* Evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against using digital mammography or MRI instead of film mammography.
In Journal Watch Women’s Health, Dr. Andrew Kaunitz says that because the updated guidelines recommend less screening, women may be confused or even outraged. He calls for consistent “frank discussions” with patients about the benefits and risks of screening mammography.
(The American College of Radiology has spoken out against these guideline changes.)
You can access the full article from the Annals of Internal Medicine here: Screening for Breast Cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement
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November 18th, 2009 at 10:43 am
this is a good update.
but i disagree against not teaching BSE, somehow risk of anxiety versus risk of late detection of breast CA, i think we have the clear winner.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
In a talk by Prof Yip Cheng Har I listened to some time back, she presented convincing data that BSE is indeed quite useless.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Oh, another point is that the data is American. In Malaysia, the case may be (I believe) that the average age of women getting breast cancer is a lot younger than the west, hence screening at 40 rather than 50 may make more sense.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
very enlightening.
therefore, public fund should be stopped immediately from printing and organizing all those BSE. i think we must go forward.