Updated Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

by Ashanda Saint Jean, MD, FACOG

Ashanda Saint Jean, MD, FACOG

The United States Preventive Services Task Force has updated their 2016 guidelines for breast cancer screening. In their updated report, it is recommended that breast cancer screening with mammography should start at age 40. Screening should then occur every two years to screen for breast cancer. Previously, the guidance advised starting mammography for breast cancer screening at 50 years old. This updated preventive screening at age 40 is aligned with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommendation of starting breast cancer screening at 40 years which has demonstrated a decrease breast cancer mortality.

Furthermore, starting breast cancer screening 10 years earlier can combat the racial disparities that exist in breast cancer detection and mortality. Black women die of breast cancer at twice the rate of their white counterparts. Eliminating racial disparities and early detection of breast cancer can have a significant impact on one’s quality of life and longevity. In efforts to combat racial disparities in health care and early detection of breast malignancy, we are aligned with the new updated guidelines from the US Preventive Services Task Force at HealthAlliance Hospital and across all of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network.

More on this from Christine Pellegrino, MD, from Westchester Medical Center and MidHudson Regional Hospital

Comprehensive Women's Health Care at HealthAlliance Hospital