Poll Shows Most Women Plan To Begin Mammograms At Age 40

A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that 84% of women ages 35 through 49 said they plan to have a mammogram before age 50, despite new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommending that most women begin biennial screening at age 50, USA Today reports. The task force had previously recommended mammograms beginning at age 40, and other groups, such as the American Cancer Society, continue to advocate the younger starting age. The poll found that 76% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the panel's recommendations. The poll also showed that many women have misconceptions about the panel and its guidelines. Nearly three-quarters of the women surveyed believed that the panel considered costs in reaching its conclusions, though the task force has repeatedly said that cost issues did not factor into its recommendations. Respondents also overestimated the risk of breast cancer for women in their 40s, with 40% of those polled saying that a 40-year-old's chance of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years was between 20% and 50%. The actual risk is closer to 1.4%, according to the National Cancer Institute (Szabo, USA Today, 11/24).

Komen for the Cure Founder Criticizes Guidelines

In related news, Nancy Brinker, the founder of the breast cancer advocacy group Susan G. Komen for the Cure, said in a speech on Monday that the task force's recommendations have ignited "mass confusion and justifiable outrage" and "taken a tremendous toll" on the fight against breast cancer. Since the panel's findings were announced, Komen for the Cure has been inundated with angry calls and e-mails, Brinker said, adding that about 25,000 to 30,000 new people have signed up with the organization. "The rage that has been directed at (the task force) has been serious, and I'm glad I'm not a member of the panel, to be honest," Brinker said. She also said that she thought the recommendations would have been better received had the panel convened "a consensus of advocates -- scientists, clinicians, people who treat cancer and deal with it every day." Brinker also issued a warning to "any insurance company that thinks this report could be used as a way to reduce coverage for mammography now or at some point in the future" (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 11/23).

U.S. News & World Report Examines How To Calculate Breast Cancer Risk

U.S. News & World Report on Monday examined various models for calculating a woman's risk of developing breast cancer based on factors such as family history and age of first menstrual period. However, experts caution that most women who get breast cancer have no significant risk factors (Hobson, U.S. News & World Report, 11/23).

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