The Los Angeles Times “Booster Shots” blog reports that “a Canadian task force recommends” that women in their 40s should not undergo “routine mammograms.”
HealthDay reports, “The new guidelines, replacing those issued in 2001, are for women at average risk of breast cancer only.” They “also recommend longer mammogram screening intervals for women aged 50 to 74 – to once every two or three years.”
HealthDay adds, “The Canadian task force has also dropped recommendations for breast self-exams and clinical exams for women with no symptoms.”
MedPage Today reports, “In the final analysis … the decision to undergo screening mammography should remain with the individual patient and treating physician, who should thoroughly discuss the tradeoff between benefits and harms, as well as patient preferences, the guideline authors wrote in an article published online in CMAJ.”
Meanwhile, “in an accompanying editorial, a Danish physician urged elimination of breast cancer screening altogether.”
Here are some of my past blogs on mammograms:

• Biennial mammograms reduce false positive rate
• Ob/Gyn group issues new guidelines recommending yearly mammograms starting at age 40
• “Mammography Saves Lives” Slogan Doesn’t Tell Full Story and May Mislead Many Women
• New Evidence-Based Mammography Ad Suggested
• Physicians increasingly concerned about breast cancer campaign’s misleading message
• Nurse practitioner writes about her decision to stop getting mammograms
• Mammography Screening for Breast Cancer: What’s a Woman to Do?
• New mammogram guidelines are spurring huge controversy
• Accuracy of mammography varies by facility