It's been widely reported today that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts in primary care and prevention, is calling for women to begin routine mammography at the age of 50 - a departure from its previous recommendations that such screening begin at 40. According to Stanford's Douglas Owens, MD, the recommendations for women in their 40s are essentially identical to ones from the American College of Physicians, which says mammography decisions for patients this age should "be made on a case-by-case basis." Owens helped develop the ACP guidelines two years ago and said this afternoon that he expects the task force's recommendations to be quite influential.
"Now there are two recent, very rigorous guidelines suggesting similar action be taken," he commented.
