CoxHealth expert applauds new mammography recommendations

Joanne Schahuber, director of the CoxHealth Breast Care Clinic, fully agrees with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommendation that all women with an average risk of breast cancer should be offered annual screening mammograms at age 40.

“This new recommendation from the ACOG agrees with the long-standing guidelines from the American Cancer Society (ACS), which we have always endorsed,” she says. “Research has proven that early detection of breast cancer through mammography saves lives.”
In 2009, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommended that women seek mammograms every other year beginning at age 50, upending the existing ACS guidelines. This recommendation raised concerns in the mammography community and caused significant confusion among women.

“We quickly noticed in our clinic that a significant number of women over the age of 40 were not scheduling their annual follow-up mammograms. When contacted, these women provided the task force recommendations as their reason,” Schahuber says.

While happy the ACOG has come out in support of the ACS guidelines, Schahuber remains concerned that many women are confused about when to begin annual mammograms.

“Women need to begin annual mammograms at age 40, sooner if they have certain risk factors. We are concerned that ten years from now, we’ll see more women with breast cancer that could have been caught earlier, had they not delayed their mammograms.”