New Change To Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations Could Save Lives

There's been a lot of debate about when to start getting mammograms and how often. Now the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is proposing a change to breast cancer screening recommendations, which it says could save nearly 20% more lives.

In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force controversially advised against routine mammograms for women in their 40s and encouraged them to make an individual decision. Now the task force is recommending women at average risk for breast cancer get mammograms every other year starting at age 40 in light of new science.

"The issue here is to balance the need for early detection with the problem of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, " says Dr. Jules Cohen, a medical oncologist at Stony Brook Cancer Center. He and many other doctors think women should have annual mammograms starting at 40. "We think we can hopefully split that difference by doing some sort of risk stratification so that we don't over treat just because we find something early."

It's been nearly six years since Sara Giglio's breast cancer diagnosis. She was 42 years old with two children. Her youngest was just three months old. "They kept me going. I really tried to be present in in the moment and be thankful for the small things," she says.

Her breast cancer was picked up on a routine mammogram. She underwent a double mastectomy, reconstruction, chemotherapy and radiation. "I did find out after the surgery that the cancer did spread," she says.

Sara Giglio says "Cancer is a part of my story. It was a chapter, but it didn't define me. I am happy to be sitting here today and I hope this reaches all your viewers. Please, please, ladies, get your mammograms."

According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Black women are much more likely to die of breast cancer and get cancers at younger ages. The Task Force is calling for more research to try to understand this significant health disparity.

These new recommendations are not for women at high risk for breast cancer.