The American College of Physicians offers a guideline for breast cancer screening in asymptomatic, average-risk women in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Here are the four main recommendations for clinicians:
- For women aged 40 to 49, discuss mammography’s benefits and risks. For most women, the potential harms outweigh the benefits.
- Between ages 50 and 74, offer biennial mammography.
- At age 75 and above — or when life expectancy is 10 years or less — discontinue screening.
- At all ages, don’t use clinical breast exams as screening tools.