Annual breast cancer screening starting at age 40 saves lives

Annual breast cancer screening starting at age 40 yields the most mortality reduction, according to research published February 20 in Radiology.  A team led by Debra Monticciolo, MD, from Dartmouth in New Hampshire found that starting annual screening at this age and continuing to at least age 79 leads to the highest reduction in mortality with minimal risks. “We’re hoping that not just radiologists, but primary care physicians will see this and realize the benefits of annual screening and how minimal the risks really are of this life-saving technique,” Monticciolo told AuntMinnie.com.  Debate continues on when and how often women should undergo breast cancer screening. Professional societies such as the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI), among other organizations, advocate for annual screening starting at 40. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), meanwhile, recommends biennial screening starting at this age, a B-grade recommendation. Monticciolo and colleagues analyzed the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) 2023 median estimates of breast cancer screening outcomes. This data allows researchers to estimate screening outcomes at various frequencies and starting ages using U.S. data. The researchers compared screening benefits in four different scenarios: biennial screening of women ages 50-74 (the previous USPSTF recommendation), biennial screening of women from 40-74, annual screening...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Subspecialties Breast Imaging Source Type: news