The age at which women should start regular breast cancer screening has dropped from 50 to 40, according to new official guidelines from the US’s top disease prevention body.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on Tuesday finalized last year’s draft recommendation, amid rising cases of the disease in women under 50.
The group’s recommendations are almost always adopted as best practice by physicians in the US.
For example, last year the same agency lowered the minimum age for colonoscopy screening from 50 to 45.
The ruling ends long-standing guidelines recommending women begin regular screening at age 50, performed via a specialized X-ray called a mammography.
Breast cancer screening is done via an X-ray called a mammogram, which involves placing the breasts between metal plates to flatten them and get 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 a rise in breast cancer rates in women under 50 according to recent research increased by three percent annually.
This includes actress Olivia Munn, who was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 43 after an initial test missed her tumor.
“There is clear evidence that starting screening every two years at age 40 provides sufficient benefits that we should recommend it to all women in this country to help them live longer and have a better quality of life,” she said. Dr. Wong, a family physician at Tufts Medical Center in Massachusetts, said.
USPSTF has previously said that 20 million additional women in their 40s would benefit from mammograms every two years.
Olivia Munn revealed earlier this year that she was diagnosed with breast cancer after undergoing four operations in the past ten months
The agency continues to recommend screening every two years for women at average risk for breast cancer, although many women opt for annual mammograms.
The task force noted that there is not enough evidence to approve additional scans, such as ultrasounds or MRIs, for women with dense breast tissue.
Experts previously told DailyMail.com that tumors are harder to detect in women with dense breasts, so initial mammograms may miss them.
From September, all mammography centers will be required to tell women whether they have dense breast tissue.
The above graph shows the change in cancer rates around the world
The graph above shows the changes in breast cancer screenings (black line) per month since 2017. It also shows a predicted screening rate (yellow dotted line) and Covid infection rate (blue line) in the US over the same period. The number of screenings was initially stable, but fell by as much as 14 percent in the first year of the pandemic
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 the surrounding tissue, a change in the shape or appearance of the breast, inverted nipple, peeling or flaking of the pigmented skin around the nipple, and redness or dimpling around the breast. nipple. skin of the breast.
Mortality rates fell by 43 percent between 1989 and 2020, following successful public health awareness campaigns, better screening and new medications.
And nine out of ten 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 being screened for breast cancer has declined since the start of the Covid pandemic.
When they searched 1.6 million breast cancer screening records, they found that screenings fell 14 percent in the first year of the pandemic.
Not all experts agree with the panel’s recommendations.
Dr. Robert Traynham, spokesman for AHIP – which represents health insurers – said the panel’s decision not to approve additional scans could have negative consequences for patients.
“What that means for coverage is that there is no mandate to cover these specific screenings for women with dense breasts at zero dollar cost sharing,” he said.
Rosa DeLauro, a Democratic representative from Connecticut, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democratic representative from Florida, said the advice does not go far enough.
In a letter sent to USPSTF in June, they said the guidelines “continue to fall short of the science, create gaps in coverage, generate uncertainty for women and their health care providers, and worsen health disparities.”