ACOG Appreciates U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s Updated Guidelines on Breast Cancer Screening

The following is a statement from Verda J. Hicks, MD, FACOG, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG):

"Breast cancer screening through mammography is a remarkable public health success story, with data demonstrating that regular screening starting at age 40 reduces breast cancer mortality in average-risk women. We are hopeful that the new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) will encourage more women-especially Black women, who are more likely to die from breast cancer-to initiate mammogram screening at age 40. The USPSTF's inclusive recommendations will also help encourage all patients who may benefit from routine mammography, including cisgender women and those who were assigned female at birth, to make the choice to begin screening at age 40.

"This new recommendation comes at an opportune time, as recent data have shown an increase in breast cancer rates among women in their 40s. For these women, routine mammograms could detect breast cancer earlier and improve their chances of survival.

"The new recommendations are especially important for Black women, who are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women and are more likely to develop deadly cancers such as breast cancer at a younger age. A strong recommendation in favor of screening beginning at age 40 will not eliminate all inequities in outcomes when it comes to breast cancer in Black women, but we hope that it will help more Black women get diagnosed and initiate treatment earlier, saving more lives.

"ACOG's guidance currently recommends that breast cancer screening through mammography be offered to women at average risk starting at age 40 and that screening be performed every one or two years based on an informed, shared decision-making process that includes a discussion of the benefits and harms of annual and biennial screening. Although ACOG's guidance generally aligns with the recommendations from the USPSTF, we will review the new evidence that prompted the USPSTF to update its recommendations to determine the need to revise ACOG's guidance."