Breast Cancer: Screening and Detection Overview

When it comes to breast cancer detection, not all medical institutions and advocacy groups agree on when women should start getting regular breast cancer screening mammograms.

1. The lifetime risk (to age 85) of a woman developing breast cancer in 1940 was 5% or one in 20; the risk is now 13.4% or almost one in 8. In women 40 to 49 years of age, there is a one in 68 risk of developing breast cancer, compared with a one in 37 risk among women in the 50 to 59 year age group.
2. Women who undergo breast cancer screening mammograms have demonstrated significantly reduced deaths from the disease.
3. Women between the ages of 40 to 49 live longer if they undergo breast cancer screening, even though the reductions in deaths from breast cancer mortality are delayed for 10 to 15 years after diagnosis.
4. The benefit of mammography is related to early detection. Regardless of how advanced the cancer is when it is detected, more than 90% of women live longer than 10 years after the diagnosis (in women 40 to 74 years old diagnosed with tumors that are 10 millimeters or smaller in size).
5. The effectiveness of any breast cancer screening program will depend on how often women are screened, compliance with screening recommendations and the quality of the screening test.

Recommendations for Breast Cancer Screening by The Cleveland Clinic Experts

The following are the recommendations for breast cancer screening:

• Monthly breast breast self-examination starting at age 20.
• Breast examination by a health-care provider every three years starting at age 20; annual clinical breast exam starting at age 40.
• Annual screening mammography starting at age 40.
• Women in high-risk categories may want to consider starting screening at age 30.

Reviewed by the doctors at The Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center.