Community Radiology Responds to Recent Screening Mammo Recommendations
November 19, 2009 - At a time when the breast cancer incidence remains high and is of great concern to women, the revised recommendations for breast cancer surveillance from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) are difficult to understand. While mammography is not a perfect examination, Swedish trials show a mortality decrease of greater than 40% for women 40 – 49 years. Randomized controlled trials prove that mammography can reduce mortality by 32% among women aged 40-70 years.
Community Radiology’s internal medical audit of biopsy proven cancers, diagnosed by our mammography program between January and December 2007 showed the following age distribution:
|
Age
|
Percentage of cancers
|
|
<40
|
7.4%
|
|
40-49
|
24.6%
|
|
50-59
|
26.3%
|
|
60-69
|
21.6%
|
|
70-79
|
8.9%
|
|
80+
|
11.2%
|
Community Radiology agrees with the American Cancer Society that the screening mammography guidelines remain the same…Annual mammograms starting at age 40 unless earlier screening is indicated for higher risk women.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at ContactCRA@radnet.com or call us at (888) 601-0943.
To read additional responses, click on the links below:
American Cancer Society
American College of Radiology
Susan G. Komen
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists