Health Blogging: Breast re-Examination
No more routine breast exams for women in their forties who are not at risk for breast cancer? That’s what the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now recommends in an opinion endorsed by some and condemned by others.
The new guidelines, published online at the Annals of Internal Medicine, say in part:
- Recommendations: The USPSTF recommends against routine screening mammography in women aged 40 to 49 years. The decision to start regular, biennial screening mammography before the age of 50 years should be an individual one and take into account patient context, including the patient’s values regarding specific benefits and harms. (Grade C recommendation)
- The USPSTF recommends biennial screening mammography for women between the ages of 50 and 74 years. (Grade B recommendation)
- The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the additional benefits and harms of screening mammography in women 75 years or older. (I statement)
- The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the additional benefits and harms of clinical breast examination beyond screening mammography in women 40 years or older. (I statement)
- The USPSTF recommends against clinicians teaching women how to perform breast self-examination. (Grade D recommendation)
- The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess additional benefits and harms of either digital mammography or magnetic resonance imaging instead of film mammography as screening modalities for breast cancer. (I statement)
Later, the guidelines say:
“This recommendation statement applies to women 40 years or older who are not at increased risk for breast cancer by virtue of a known underlying genetic mutation or a history of chest radiation.”
More on the task force here, which says its recommendations are considered the “gold standard” in clinical preventive services.