American Cancer Society says women don’t need a mammogram every year
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In the long-running debate over when and how often women should be screened for breast cancer, it is increasingly clear that one recommendation doesn’t fit all.
That is the main message in the American Cancer Society’s new mammography guidelines issued Tuesday. The nonprofit organization said it strongly recommends that women start having mammograms every year at age 45, transitioning to every two years at age 55 and continuing for as long as they are healthy and expect to live at least 10 more years. However, the cancer society said women who want to start screening at 40, or continue having annual mammograms after 55, should have the opportunity.
The guidelines, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, recommend against clinical breast exams—in which a physician manually checks for lumps—for women of any age.
The cancer society had previously recommended that all women have annual mammograms beginning at age 40.
New Mammogram Guidelines: Less Often, Later in Life
The American Cancer Society has revised its guidelines regarding breast cancer screening, including a recommendation against all clinical breast exams. WSJ's Stefanie Ilgenfritz has details on Lunch Break With Tanya Rivero. Photo: Getty
The new guidelines, which apply to women at average risk, are closer to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s 2009 recommendation that women wait until age 50 and have mammograms only every other year. Those guidelines sparked controversy at the time, with some women complaining about health-care rationing, and Congress added an exception to the Affordable Care Act requiring insurers to cover annual mammograms starting at 40 as an essential health benefit at no cost to patients.
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