Pocono News Section

Mammogram guideline change

Mammogram guideline change - Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:50PM EST

Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 @ 02:50pm EST

An influential group is raising the recommended age for mammograms and raising big concerns as well.

The U. S. Preventive Task Force, made up of doctors from across the country, created the guidelines.

It's changing the suggested starting age bracket for mammograms from 40 to 50 years old.

Nancy Kman is a radio talk show host and breast cancer survivor.

Raising the recommended age for routine mammograms isn't something she agrees with.

Kman said, "I think what they're thinking is they'll save money in the long term but we're talking about people's lives. Younger women will die because of this."

Kman was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39.

She beat the disease but says women her age could be at risk under these new suggested guidelines.

The U. S. Preventive Services Task Force says women 40 to 49 should talk to their doctors about mammogram risks first.

Dr. Diana Petitti, vice chair of the U. S. Preventive Services Task Force said, "This is not about whether to be screened. It's about how often to be screened, what age to start being screened and again it's a balance of benefits and harms."

The task force says women in their 40's are more likely to receive inaccurate test results, because of their breast structure.

Women ages 50 to 74 are more likely to get accurate mammogram results according to the task force.

But Dolly Woody from the Susan G. Komen for the cure in Scranton is uneasy.

She says these guidelines give women one more reason not to detect breast cancer early.

Woody said, "Rather unsettling for us as a breast cancer organization. We certainly don't want to have anything impede the progress that we're trying make in trying to eradicating it, detecting it early in its most treatable form."

The American Cancer Society has also disagreed with the guidelines.

But both sides of this argument agree, all women should at least talk with their doctor about breast cancer screening.

Both Kman and Komen for the Cure are also worried insurance providers.

They say early detection screening might be less likely to be covered for younger women under these new guidelines.