When the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released new recommendations that women should not have annual mammograms until age 50, they ignored thousands of studies and data analyses that support the screening of women 40 and above.

The American College of Radiology (ACR), American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Susan G. Komen Foundation all raised red flags. The ACR called the recommendations “ill-advised and dangerous.”  Further, the ACR said the proposal “makes unconscionable decisions about the value of human life,” apparently arbitrarily deciding that the cost of saving women from ages 40-50 is too high.  It should be noted that the ACS is made up of many physicians in different specialties who bring a broad range of expertise in the area of breast care.

Breast health is not as simple as a mammogram. For a woman to have the absolute best outcome, early detection of breast cancer is imperative, and that requires a comprehensive assessment of a patient’s individualized risk factors as well as regular mammograms, clinical breast exams performed by trained staff and breast self exams.  The breast screening recommendations that we have implemented at The Breast Center at Floyd are nationally recognized and research-based. They enable us to establish an aggressive plan of care that gives us our best chance at finding cancer at the earliest possible stage by helping women discover their risk, modify their lifestyle, and be proactive with aggressive screening protocols. These tools are available now and have proven results. Taking advantage of these tools is in everyone’s best interest.

If the maintenance light in your car comes on, you can choose to follow that scheduled maintenance or to ignore it, risking future serious consequences.  At a minimum shouldn’t we treat our health like our cars?

While it is true that most breast cancers occur after age 60, many women younger than 50 have been diagnosed early–and effectively cured–from breast cancer based on current screening guidelines. Breast cancers that go undetected are more difficult to treat and may even cause death.  Why would we discourage the use of the best tools we have to try to save lives? 

Currently, less than half of the women eligible for ongoing breast cancer screening are seeking mammograms and clinical breast exams. Our fear is that women will stop completing breast cancer screenings as a result of these recom-mendations.  We hope women will realize this is not a “final” recommendation, but the opinion of one organization.  

At the end of the day, it is important for every woman to know her individual risk, and to have a breast health plan in place to detect cancer at its earliest possible point.  This is different for every woman.  At The Breast Center, we deliver individualized care, assessing each patient’s specific risk, and basing her imaging and clinical needs on nationally recognized protocols. This is a successful model that, in the past year has resulted in over 100 breast cancer diagnoses, many of which were discovered in women who are younger than 50 and many of which were discovered during a first-time mammogram.

The task force made their recommendations without allowing for public input or involving anyone with expertise in breast imaging.  We have seen first-hand the importance of early detection. Early and regular mammography, especially when accompanied by a clinical breast exam performed by trained physicians and nurses, and monthly breast self-exams, is clinically proven to be effective in detecting early breast cancers.

Ask a young breast cancer patient what would have happened if she had waited until she was 50 for her mammogram. Ask her husband, son, daughter or parents their opinions of these new guidelines. Women should be outraged, and we encourage you to contact your congressional representatives. We also urge women not to cancel their mammogram appointment based on this information- please speak with your doctor first.

Dr. LEE ANN HOWELL, KAREN CRAIG, AIMEE GRIFFIN, The Breast Center,

Dr. JAMES MOSELEY, President, Rome Radiology Group