Screening Mammography: Revisiting Assumptions About Early Detection

Differences in breast cancer incidence among young women aged 20–49 years by stage and tumor characteristics, age, race, and ethnicity, 2004–2013

“…Leading organizations do not recommend screening by mammography for average risk women prior to the age of 40 [40–42]. Guidelines for mammography use are inconsistent for women aged 40–49 years, though some organizations recommend annual mammography screening starting at age 40 or 45 [40, 43]. Mammography has lower sensitivity, higher false-positive rates, and a lower positive predictive value for younger women compared with older women and may cause harms including false-positives, over-diagnosis, and radiation exposure [44].…”

Mammography: Review of the Controversy, Health Disparities, and Impact on Young African American Women

“…Despite this, many organizations, researchers, and clinicians maintain that screening mammography may have benefits in the broad context of detecting breast cancer in its early stages in some women, allowing earlier cancer treatment and cure than would be accomplished if it were detected at a later stage (Hale & deValpine, 2014;Tabar et al, 2011;USPSTF, 2009). However, no single screening modality detects all breast cancers with equal levels of specificity and sensitivity (Kolb, Lichy, & Newhouse, 2002;Tilanus-Linthorst et al, 2002).…”