New mammography guidelines can set breast health care back a half century in time, says cancer expert

Until recently, women hitting their 40th birthdays expected to begin receiving yearly mammograms to screen for breast cancer. Earlier this week, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a government appointed task force, advised cutting back on the number of mammograms that women receive, as well as pushing back the age of the first mammogram to 50. Marla R. Lander, M.D, the Chief Medical Officer of Solis Women's Health and Medical Director of two breast centers in Southern California is outraged by the USPSTF recommendations and fears lives may be at stake as a result of the new directives.

"These recommendations, alone, can set breast health care back a half century in time," said Lander "It has been scientifically proven time and again, over the last 30 years, that aggressively screening for breast cancer saves lives." She cites an earlier failed attempt to update screening recommendations as a cautionary tale that could cost lives. "The National Cancer Institute had similar flawed recommendations in 1993. After it became clear that they had misinterpreted the data, the NCI was forced to reverse their recommendations in 1997."

As someone who has devoted her profession to women's health, screening for and preventing breast cancer, Lander is further troubled by the fact the panel was mostly made up of PhDs and general practitioner medical doctors without a known expert in breast imaging or breast disease.

Lander calls the USPSTF to task saying, "This is cost containment, not good medicine," she continues "Screening mammography is a safe, non invasive and convenient test that needs be done only once a year. It is not perfect, but it is the best screening device currently available in the whole realm of medicine. Is this too high a price to pay for finding a potentially deadly cancer, early, while it is still curable?"