Supported by
New Mammogram Advice: What to Know
If you’re at average risk for breast cancer, start getting mammograms at 40 and go every two years, an influential scientific panel says. Many women were doing it anyway.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of experts that issues guidelines about preventive care, has recommended all women start routine breast cancer screening at 40, instead of by 50, the previous recommendation.
The panel continues to advise spacing the screenings at two-year intervals, although some other medical organizations endorse annual mammograms.
Here’s more about what this means for you.
Who is affected by the new guidelines?
The advice applies to all “cisgender women and other people assigned female at birth” who are at average risk for breast cancer and do not have any troubling symptoms that might indicate breast cancer. This group includes women with dense breast tissue and a family history of breast cancer.
The recommendation does not apply to anyone who has already had breast cancer, has genetic mutations that increase breast cancer risk, has received high-dose radiation to the chest, or has had breast lesions identified in previous biopsies.
Why did the task force change its advice?
The panel based its advice on recent, more inclusive science about breast cancer in women under 50. Although no new clinical trial data were available — and only one older trial included a significant proportion of Black women — the panel commissioned a review of screening strategies and modeling studies to come to its conclusions.
Advertisement