Starting Breast Cancer Screening at Age 40 Instead of 50 Saves Lives

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
The debate about when to start screening mammograms

A number of large studies, including a review by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in 2009 and a study on the causes of death in the United Kingdom in 2013, have questioned the value of screening mammograms and ignited debate over when screening mammograms should start.

Public health experts who question the value of screening mammograms say that while mammograms do save lives, for each breast cancer death prevented, three to four women are overdiagnosed. [Read more…]