U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Report Released

NewsOn6.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A government task force released some startling new guidelines on Monday on when women should start getting regular mammograms.

The task force says most women don't need a mammogram as early as previously told and should wait until their fifties. Even then, the task force says women should only get one every two years.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says getting mammograms so early can lead to an increase in false positives, meaning women are getting un-necessary biopsies. That goes directly against guidelines from the American Cancer Society, which recommends regular mammograms at age forty.

"We have made significant gains in reducing deaths from breast cancer over the past 19 or 20 years, and those gains are based in no small part in our recommendation in getting screened every year," said Dr Len Lichtenfeld, American Cancer Society.

Critics say by waiting ten years before regular mammograms, women could miss a crucial diagnosis.