Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Proposed USPSTF guideline update: Advocating for earlier breast cancer screening at age 40

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
Conditions
June 3, 2023
Share
Tweet
Share

Pop Quiz: At what age do medical experts recommend women of average risk for breast cancer begin receiving screening mammograms?

  1. 40
  2. 45
  3. 50
  4. All of the above.

If you answered “D,” you are correct. Confused? I don’t blame you. Medical societies and independent task forces do not agree on when to begin or end screening mammograms for women at average risk of developing breast cancer. This has led to confusion and frustration. But there is something that we as women can do about it.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently proposed an update to its guidelines that would begin to close the yawning gap between recommendations. People have until June 6 to submit their comments about the proposal, and it is my hope that anyone who has been touched by breast cancer takes the time to review the guideline shift.

For context: The American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS), the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) all recommend women should begin screening mammograms starting at age 40.

Meanwhile, the American Cancer Society’s guidelines call for women to begin annual screening at 45 and then get screened every two years starting at 55.

And in a highly controversial move in 2009, the USPSTF declared that women should not be screened until age 50, unless they are high-risk or opt for a more aggressive screening schedule.

These disparate recommendations have left women rudderless as they try to navigate their own well-being. Nationwide, breast cancer cases among women in their 40s rose 2 percent per year between 2015 and 2019.

Fortunately, the USPSTF recently proposed a guideline update that, if approved, would lower the recommended age to 40 for average-risk women.

This would bring all medical associations and societies in closer alignment. If approved, it would be the biggest breast imaging news in over a decade. A win for clarity and a win for women.

Why are the USPSTF’s recommendations so important? As the independent panel of primary care and prevention experts, the task force develops recommendations for primary care providers. The USPSTF influences how doctors act and what the recommendations they make to their patients.

After the 2009 recommendation, many primary care providers also stopped conducting clinical breast exams for women, meaning that women between the ages of 40 to 49 were neither physically examined nor routinely imaged for breast cancer until they were 50, unless they were at elevated risk for developing the disease or felt a lump and rushed to the doctor to get checked out.

Around 75 percent of breast cancers are diagnosed in patients who are not high-risk. This tells us that screening all women is important, and the earlier a woman’s cancer is diagnosed the better the outcome.

That is why I applaud this draft recommendation and urge people to support the draft language during the USPSTF’s comment period, which ends on June 6. You can review the recommendation and leave your comment here.

ADVERTISEMENT

While the shift does not create a completely aligned message, it is an important step. Next, I hope the medical community can come to a consensus on how often screening mammograms should be performed in average-risk women.

The USPSTF maintains in its new guideline recommendations that average-risk women should have a mammogram every two years, while the ASBrS, ACOG, ACR, and NCCN recommend annual screening. Make no mistake: Biennial screening does save lives. But extending annual screening to every other year principally increases the risk that the most aggressive, fastest-growing cancers are diagnosed too late.

In the meantime, if you have been touched by breast cancer, please consider voicing your support for this needed guidelines update.

This doesn’t completely end the confusion, but it’s an important step in the right direction. More than 60,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed annually with breast cancer between the ages of 40-49. Earlier screening means more lives saved. Make your voice heard here.

January Lopez is a director of breast imaging, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach, CA.

Prev

The rising threat of lung cancer in Asian American female nonsmokers

June 3, 2023 Kevin 2
…
Next

Master time management with 7 productivity strategies for optimal results

June 3, 2023 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Oncology/Hematology

Post navigation

< Previous Post
The rising threat of lung cancer in Asian American female nonsmokers
Next Post >
Master time management with 7 productivity strategies for optimal results

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

  • Cancer treatment and sexual health: the conversation we need to have

    Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
  • How AI is transforming breast cancer detection: a game-changing tool for early diagnosis and personalized care

    Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
  • What films get wrong about cancer – and why it matters

    Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

Related Posts

  • When breast cancer screening guidelines conflict: Some patients face real consequences

    Leda Dederich
  • Timely treatment decisions: the promise of surrogate markers

    Layla Parast, PhD
  • Is social media a friend or foe of science?

    Michael Joyce, MD
  • Cancer of the future: diagnosis, treatment, and impact on the health care system and patients

    Eugene Chan, MD
  • Questions about pharma pricing and marketing

    Martha Rosenberg
  • The health effects of structural racism

    Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

More in Conditions

  • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

    Jeff Cooper
  • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

    M. Bennet Broner, PhD
  • She wouldn’t move in the womb—then came the rare diagnosis that changed everything

    Amber Robertson
  • Diabetes and Alzheimer’s: What your blood sugar might be doing to your brain

    Marc Arginteanu, MD
  • How motherhood reshaped my identity as a scientist and teacher

    Kathleen Muldoon, PhD
  • Jumpstarting African health care with the beats of innovation

    Princess Benson
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • “Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

      Anonymous | Education
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • Why true listening is crucial for future health care professionals [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Love on life support: a powerful reminder from the ICU

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • Surviving kidney disease and reforming patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Antimicrobial resistance: a public health crisis that needs your voice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • “Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

      Anonymous | Education
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • Why true listening is crucial for future health care professionals [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Love on life support: a powerful reminder from the ICU

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • Surviving kidney disease and reforming patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Antimicrobial resistance: a public health crisis that needs your voice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...