The age at which women should begin regular breast cancer screening has been lowered from 50 to 40, according to new official guidance from America’s top disease prevention agency.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) finalized last year’s draft recommendation on Tuesday, amid a rise in cases of the disease in women under 50.
The group’s recommendations are almost always adopted as best practices by doctors across the United States.
For example, the same agency lowered the minimum colonoscopy screening age from 50 to 45 last year.
The ruling reverses long-standing guidance that recommends that women begin regular screening, performed through a specialized X-ray called a mammogram, at age 50.
Screening for breast cancer is done with an x-ray called mammography, which involves placing the breasts between metal plates to flatten them and obtain images from above and from the sides.
The procedure involves placing the breasts between metal plates to flatten them and obtain images from above and from the sides.
Dr. John Wong, vice president of the USPSTF, cited an increase in breast cancer cases in women under 50, which recent research shows has increased three percent a year.
This includes actress Olivia Munn, who was diagnosed with the disease at age 43 after an initial test failed to detect her tumor.
“There is clear evidence that starting biennial screening at age 40 provides enough benefit to recommend it to all women in this country to help them live longer and have a better quality of life,” said Dr. Wong, a primary care physician at Tufts Medical Center in Massachusetts, said.
The USPSTF has previously said that 20 million more women in their 40s would benefit from a mammogram every two years.
Olivia Munn revealed earlier this year that she was diagnosed with breast cancer, after undergoing four surgeries in the last 10 months.
The agency continues to recommend screening every two years for women at average risk of breast cancer, although many women opt for annual mammograms.
The task force noted that there is not enough evidence to support additional scans, such as ultrasounds or MRIs, for women with dense breast tissue.
Experts previously told DailyMail.com that tumors may be harder to detect in women with dense breasts, leading to initial mammograms potentially missing them.
Starting in September, all mammography centers will be required to tell women if they have dense breast tissue.
The graph above shows the change in cancer case rates around the world.
The graph above shows changes in breast cancer screening (black line) since 2017 by month. It also shows a predicted detection rate (yellow dotted line) and the Covid infection rate (blue line) in the US over the same period. Screening was initially stable but declined during the first year of the pandemic by up to 14 percent.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in both the US and the world.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates there will be more than 300,000 new cases this year, along with 43,700 deaths.
According to the Mayo Clinic, signs of breast cancer include a lump that feels different from surrounding tissue, a change in the shape or appearance of the breast, an inverted nipple, peeling or peeling pigmented skin around the nipple, and redness or pitting around the nipple. of the nipple. chest skin.
Death rates have plummeted 43 percent between 1989 and 2020, after successful public health awareness campaigns, better screening and new medications.
And nine out of 10 patients are expected to survive after five years.
In a study published last year in JAMA Network Open, researchers found that the number of women undergoing breast cancer screening has decreased since the Covid pandemic began.
Examining 1.6 million breast cancer screening records, they found that screening decreased 14 percent in the first year of the pandemic.
Not all experts agree with the panel’s recommendations.
Dr. Robert Traynham, a spokesman for AHIP, which represents health insurance companies, said the panel’s decision not to support additional scans could have negative consequences for patients.
“What that means for coverage is that there is no mandate to cover these specific exams for women with dense breasts with zero dollar cost sharing,” she said.
Rosa DeLauro, a Democratic representative from Connecticut, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democratic representative from Florida, said the council does not go far enough.
In a letter sent to the USPSTF in June, they said the guidance continued to “fall short of the science, creating coverage gaps, creating uncertainty for women and their providers, and exacerbating health disparities.”
