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"  Mammogram: The word conveys such an uncomfortable procedure that one might think women would welcome an excuse to skip a year. But last November&amp;#039;s news that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends less frequent mammograms provoked a public outcry. &amp;quot;Mammography saves lives,&amp;quot; says Ambassador Nancy Brinker, the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. &amp;quot;It isn&amp;#039;t perfect, but it works.&amp;quot; Like Brinker, many disagree with the suggestions to reduce mammograms to every other year and that screening for women in their 40s not be routine. This despite the estimated one in 1,904 women in that age group whose life is saved by such a screening. &amp;quot;Frankly, it boils down to whose life it is. Your mom&amp;#039;s? Yours? One in 1,900 is a lot of women,&amp;quot; argues Brinker. The task force&amp;#039;s chair, family physician Ned Calonge, says the recommendations were misinterpreted\u2014the language has since been clarified\u2014and that women under 50 at average risk should make their own decisions. &amp;quot;Many will say, &amp;#039;It&amp;#039;s worth it to me.&amp;#039; And that&amp;#039;s okay,&amp;quot; he says. Experts agree that the latest approach to screening is individualized, with additional layers like MRIs administered depending on each woman&amp;#039;s risk level. As for fears that accumulated radiation from mammograms is itself harmful, the consensus is that the benefits far outweigh the risks. &amp;quot;The likelihood of having breast cancer diagnosed at an early, curable stage is much greater than the likelihood of getting breast cancer from a mammogram,&amp;quot; says radiologist David Dershaw of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who says that even a pessimistic estimate indicates 10,000 lives saved versus 75 deaths due to radiation. &amp;quot;It isn&amp;#039;t a question of having less [screening]. It&amp;#039;s about having more,&amp;quot; adds Brinker, a breast-cancer survivor herself whose life of activism following her sister&amp;#039;s death from the disease at 36 is chronicled in her upcoming book, Promise Me. She recalls being thrown out of the office of the CEO of a major bra manufacturer in the early &amp;#039;80s for suggesting hang tags with mammogram reminders. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re selling beauty and fashion, not death and dying,&amp;quot; snapped the CEO. Calonge, meanwhile, argues that his organization is raising awareness that mammography is not foolproof. According to its review of recent data, &amp;quot;The mortality reduction is only about 15 percent&amp;quot; for women ages 40 to 59. But mammograms are here to stay for the foreseeable future. &amp;quot;There is nothing on the horizon that will replace them,&amp;quot; says Dershaw, who continues to advise yearly mammograms from age 40 and says new developments would be supplementary. He predicts functional imaging tests that &amp;quot;instead of searching for lumps look at biochemical processes in the breast.&amp;quot; Meanwhile, Brinker is working to help close the technology gap. This October, her organization is hosting a think tank in Israel. &amp;quot;We want to create the next generation of technology ensuring that early detection of breast cancer can be a reality for women all over the world.&amp;quot; SCREENING GUIDELINES According to Susan G. Komen for the Cure \u2022 20s AND 30s Have a clinical breast exam at least every three years. Learn what is normal for you, and see your doctor if you notice a change. \u2022 40 Start having an annual mammogram as well as a clinical breast exam. \u2022 HIGHER RISK If you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer (e.g. your mother or sister has had breast cancer before 50 or you have multiple relatives with breast and/or ovarian cancer, relatives with cancer in both breasts, or male relatives with breast cancer) or you have a breast biopsy that shows a &amp;quot;high-risk&amp;quot; lesion, consult your doctor. He or she may recommend annual mammograms starting at an earlier age, plus annual breast MRIs. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/health/a551/truth-about-mammograms-0810/>