Controversy surrounds the newly released breast cancer screening guidelines

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November 20, 2009

After the US Preventive Services Task Force recently released new guidelines for breast cancer screenings there has been a fair amount of confusion and controversy. See recent press coverage below.
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Abramson Cancer Center clinicians and researchers weigh in on newly released breast cancer screening guidelines... Click here to view
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American Cancer Society Responds to Changes to USPSTF Mammography Guidelines... Read More

MSNBC
They said that the number of cancer cases detected from such screening was too low, and that too many biopsies and further tests were being done in women who had hard-to-interpret test results but who turned out not to have the disease... Read More

ABC News
Which Hospital Are Ignoring New Mammogram Rules?
New recommendations for breast cancer screening that brewed a storm of controversy and confusion were formally rejected Wednesday by the Obama administration and by medical centers across the country... Read More

The New York Times
The mammogram storm: Benefits vs. risks
Common sense tells women that while mammography is an imperfect, inadequate defense against a disease that will kill 40,000 of them this year, it is better than nothing.

No wonder new breast-cancer screening guidelines issued this week by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force went over with a thud... Read More

The New York Times
Mammogram Debate Took Group by Surprise
The federal Preventive Services Task Force, the group that created a political firestorm this week with its recommendation that women get less-frequent mammograms, was created to be insulated from politics... Read More

The New York Times
Screening Policy Wont' Change, U.S. Officials Say
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration distanced itself Wednesday from new standards on breast cancer screening that were recommended this week by a federally appointed task force, saying government insurance programs would continue to cover routine mammograms for women starting at age 40.... Read More

The New York Times
New Mammogram Advice Finds a Skeptical Audience
LOS ANGELES —In a world with few givens, there have long been a few health guidelines that every American woman could follow. Dental exams annually, from the time you get teeth. Pap smears every year once you are in your 20s. After age 40, 10 minutes of unpleasantness with a mammogram machine, also on a yearly basis... Read More

The Philadelphia Inquirer
Confusion follow mammogram advice

NEW YORK - For many women, getting a mammogram is already one of life's more stressful experiences.

Now, women in their 40s have the added anxiety of deciding if they should even be getting one at all.

A government task force said Monday that most women don't need mammograms in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50 - a stunning reversal and a break with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position... Read More

The New York Times
Many Doctors to Stay Course on Breast Exams for Now
Despite new recommendations that most women start breast screening at 50 rather than 40, many doctors said Tuesday that they were simply not ready to make such a drastic change... Read More

The New York Times
New Guidelines on Breast Cancer Draw Opposition
Karen Young-Levi has gone for a mammogram every year since she turned 40, and she would not skip the procedure any more than she would skip her spin classes at the gym or stop wearing her seat belt. “It’s my security blanket,” said Ms. Young-Levi, 43, of Medford, N.J... Read More

The New York Times
Panel Urges Mammograms at 50, not 40
Most women should start regular breast cancer screening at age 50, not 40, according to new guidelines released Monday by an influential group that provides guidance to doctors, insurance companies and policy makers... Read More