As a 6 yr metastatic breast cancer survivor, this is appalling. I was diagnosed at 43 yrs. by self exam, confirmed by mammogram, as were many 30 year old friends of mine who were diagnosed by mammo and wouldn't have known had it not been f...or mammo. Beware of "GOVT Task Force" ~ this is a harbinger of things to come if our Senators don't perform due diligence and stop the insanity. Task Force recommendations will easily become Council of Comparative Effectiveness Research mandates.See More

I am appalled at these new guidelines. I was diagnosed in Feb of this year after finding a swollen lymph node back in July 2008 and being told by the doctors I was too young, mother of 3, breastfeeding, etc, etc... Guess what? I had to wa...it 7 precious months to convince the doctors to give me a mammogram/MRI because I was too young and didn't have a family history nor any risk factors. I was 37 when I found my lump. The doctors waited so long that when I was diagnosed I had a 10x12cm tumor and needed chemo immediately to shrink it down before surgery. I'm now breastless, hairless, and without my innocence. Please please women everywhere: demand your tests if you suspect anything differently.See More

Livestrong, thank you for your position on this awful recommendation. My breast cancer was detected on an annual mammogram in Dec. 08. That was followed by a mastectomy and chemo, but I'm here to comment on this travesty. With this new g...uideline, I wouldn't be here!! I agree that this is all money driven and we need to continue the fight and make ourselves heard or we will lose many women. A co-worker was diagnosed at 31. The recommendation should be for earlier mammograms, not later!! I am SOOOO angry about this. Lives will be lost, if we don't fight!!See More

When the term "life/years" is used to rationalize this decision, it is obvious this change was made due to formulaic and economic considerations. How many added "life/years" do there need to be to justify continued screenings in this age g...roup? How many women need to die to justify the minimal costs? What's that magic number?
These new guidelines will become the "gold standard" to be taught in medical schools and used by insurance companies to deny coverage for mammograms in this age group. Poor women will suffer the greatest consequences of these changes. Those who have the means to self-pay for proper screenings will get them, and those who cannot afford it will likely be diagnosed at far later stages.
It is true that for young women, mammograms may not be effective due to denser breast tissue. Also, with false positives there are potential harms that can be done as well. But I do not believe that risk outweighs the benefit of regular mammograms, especially to those women in their 40's who's cancer is caught early due to mammography.
The most blatantly insane part of these new guidelines is the recommendation to stop monthly breast self-exams. Monthly BSE's cause no harm, and carry no financial cost. And they can save lives. It was my own monthly BSE which found 2 tumors in my breast - mammograms were negative.
Taking away mammography screenings AND a woman's monthly BSE guarantees breast cancer in this age group will advance to a stage which becomes life threatening and very very costly to treat.
This reversal in addition to the new guidelines on PAP smears is only an indication of things to come. Rather than allowing the patient and her physician to make appropriate decisions about care based on individual need, these formulas will undoubtedly lead to an increase in cancer deaths while insuring continued profits for insurance companies and their shareholders.
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