Debate Over New Guidelines for Breast Cancer Screening

This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com An influential group of medical experts released new guidelines on testing for breast cancer on November sixteenth. The guidelines are from the United States Preventive Services Task Force. Its members are appointed by the government but its recommendations are independent. The new guidelines appear in the Annals of Internal Medicine. One of the biggest changes is that the task force now advises against mammograms for most women under fifty years old. In two thousand two the group had suggested such screening tests every one to two years for women forty and older. The new guidelines also say women between fifty and seventy-four should not get mammograms every year as currently advised. The experts now recommend testing every two years for that age group. The task force says the new recommendations are not meant for women who have an increased risk of breast cancer. The experts also say there is not enough evidence to decide about the benefits and harms of testing women seventy-five or older. But the group recommends against teaching women breast self-examination. It says evidence suggests that doing so does not reduce breast cancer deaths. Mistaken test results — called false positives — are one problem. But another problem noted by the task force is overdiagnosis. This is when doctors find and possibly treat cancers that would not have shortened a woman’s life. Radiation exposure from breast X …