Screening Mammography — Potential Problems on the Horizon

There is general agreement in the medical community with the recommendations of the American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology (ACS/ACR) that all women have a base-line mammogram at the age of 35 to 40, with follow-up examinations annually or biennially until the age of 50 and then annually thereafter. The Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project showed a breast cancer prevalence of 7 per 1000, with an annual incidence of 3 per 1000. Forty-two percent of these neoplasms were nonpalpable and detected only by mammography. Only 9 percent were mammographically negative and detected only on physical examination.1 A . . .