The US Preventive Services Task For...

The US Preventive Services Task Force has released an updated recommendation that advises women ages 40 and older to have a mammogram each one to two years, according to a Feb 21 2002 of the present days release from the US Department of Health and Human Services. pair earlier recommendations from the task force, published in 1989 and 1996 advocated mammography for women older than 50 years of age.

Although clinical breast examination and breast self-examination can expose some cancers, there is insufficient data to determine whether these classifications alone reduce the number of breast cancer deaths. The strongest evidence often he benefit of mammography to convert into breast cancer mortality is among women ages 50 to 69 according to the release.

An estimated 192000 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and 40600 women died from the disease, which is the mostly common cancer among US women Risk factors include age, family history, a previous diagnosis of breast cancer, or a previous breast biopsy showing atypical hyperplasia (ie, an irregular pattern of small room growth). Women should discuss their individual risk factors with their physician to determine when and to what extent often to have a mammogram. The breast cancer screening recommendation and materials for patients and health care personnel are available on calling the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) information clearinghouse at (800) 358-9295 or visiting AHRQ's web site at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/3rduspstf/breastcancer.

HH Affirms Value of Mammography for Detecting Breast Cancer (new release, Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, Feb 21 2002) http://www hhsgov/news/press/2002pres/20020221html accessed 21 Feb 2002)

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