USPSTF Recommends Against Routine Mammography for Women in Their 40s

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.)