19% More Lives Could Be Saved If Women Are Screened For Breast Cancer At A Younger Age, Recommendation Says
ForbesMAY 2023
This draft recommendation is a step in the right direction in the fight against breast cancer, aligning the Task Force with the American Cancer Society in recognizing that the benefits of screening outweigh its harms. Yet, there is room for further improvement, as the introduction of annual mammograms could help younger women and Black women find earlier-stage and aggressive cancers.
Though breast cancer screening has been promoted as life-saving, it has disproportionately caused more harm than benefit by increasing mastectomies and overdiagnosing healthy women, all while failing to catch cancer earlier. Despite seeming counterintuitive, avoiding mammograms reduces the risk of becoming a breast cancer patient by one third and protects people from unnecessary treatments like radiotherapy.