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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Some health experts are recommending women start getting mammograms at an earlier age.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said women should start routine screenings at age 40. This is 10 years earlier than previously advised in 2016. Health experts said new and more inclusive science about breast cancer in people younger than 50 years old caused them to expand their thinking.
They encourage all women to get mammograms every other year starting at age 40. OSF Radiologist Jason Davis said moving the screening age even earlier than 40 would be another step in the right direction.
“Every female starting at age 25 should go to their primary care doctor and get risk assessment,” Davis said. “Women that are at increased risk for developing breast cancer, even younger than 40, are African American women and women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. So, they should also consider moving up even before age 40.”
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the U.S and accounts for 30% of all new female cancers each year, according to the American Cancer Society. The task force panel hopes the change could result in 19% more lives saved.
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