(MAY 10, 2023) A federal health task force now recommends that all women with an average risk of breast cancer start screening every other year beginning at age 40 — rather than at age 50, as was recommended in the previous update in 2016, WCAX-TV reported. Brian Sprague, Ph.D., professor of surgery and biochemistry, hopes this will reverse the decline in screening that UVM Cancer Center research has shown for the past several years. “I’m hoping this will help,” he says.
Brian Sprague, Ph.D.
(MAY 10, 2023) A federal health task force now recommends that all women with an average risk of breast cancer start screening every other year beginning at age 40 — rather than at age 50, as was recommended in the previous update in 2016, WCAX-TV reported. Brian Sprague, Ph.D., professor of surgery and biochemistry, hopes this will reverse the decline in breast cancer screening across all age groups — including those who were supposed to continue getting mammograms — that UVM Cancer Center research has shown for the past several years.
"I’m hoping this will help. I think these new recommendations reaffirm the value of mammography screening for all women over the age of 40 and it’ll be a more clear message and a simpler message to say start screening at age 40 and continuous screening regularly,” Sprague says.