The U.S Preventative Services Task Force, an independent group that advises the government on healthcare issues, recommended that routine screening for breast cancer should start at age 50, instead of the previously recommended age of 40. These new guidelines have created a lot of confusion and controversy over the last few days. Several influential groups, such as the American Cancer Society, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American College of Radiology announced that they will ignore the new guidelines and continue to recommend that women get screening at age 40.

Breast cancer affects around 194,000 people (mostly women) in the US each year, and causes around 40,000 deaths. The most common screening exam for breast cancer is a mammogram, which is used to detect and evaluate breast changes in women who may have or have not any complaints or symptoms. In 2002, the American Cancer Society, along with other groups, had recommended that “women age 40 and older should have a screening mammogram every year, and should continue to do so for as long as they are in good health.”

However, the new guidelines issued by the task force suggest that for women aged 40 to 49, the benefits of mammograms are minimal and not necessarily worth the risk. The task force warns that mammogram screenings could have potentially harmful effects, such as false-positive results (telling a woman that she has cancer when she actually doesn’t) that result in unnecessary procedures done to the patient. Moreover, it argues that some of these cancers detected in that age group would never have surfaced on their own within a woman’s natural lifetime.

Another controversial conclusion by the U.S Preventative Services Task Force is that breast-self exams should not be recommended anymore for any age, as there is no evidence that they reduce breast cancer death rates. Members of the task force have argued that their recommendations are based on the most rigorous and up-to date scientific research available based on studies conducted in the UK, Sweden and the US. However, that does not seem to convince physicians. A recent informal study has shown that 78% of doctors do not agree with the new guidelines and therefore will not change the advice that they give to patients.