The final statement of the US Preventive Service Task Force in 2016 recommends mammogram every two years for every women between 50 and 74 years who has average risk for breast cancer. On average, an individual woman has a 1-in-8 chance of developing breast cancer over an 80-year lifespan. The decision to start screening mammogram in women prior to age 50 years should be an individual one. In this group the number of false-positive results and unnecessary biopsy is larger. But women on this same age group with a parent, sibling, or child with breast cancer are at higher risk for breast cancer and may benefit more from beginning screening at their 40’s. A woman is considered to be at average risk if she doesn’t have a personal history of breast cancer, a strong family history of breast cancer, or a genetic mutation known to increase risk of breast cancer (such as in a BRCA gene), and has not had chest radiation therapy before the age of 30. In conclusion, if you don’t have any of the high risk factors mention above you should start screening mammogram at age 50. I will write more about Breast Cancer Risk Factors in a following article.
