Jefferson University Hospitals

You may have heard the controversial news this week that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now recommends against routine screening mammography in women aged 40 to 49 years who are not at high risk for breast cancer.  Instead, the panel advises biennial screening mammography for women aged 50 to 74 years.

Even more, the USPSTF recommends against teaching breast self-examinations.

Several physicians weighed in on the matter in a Philadelphia Inquirer story on the benefits and risks of mammograms, including Louis Weinstein, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University.

"A lot of this is not new," said Dr. Weinstein to the Philadelphia Inquirer, in reference to the average risk of a 40-something woman dying from cancer compared to a 50-something woman. Dr. Weinstein doesn't encourage women in their 40s to get screening because he knows that "the majority of findings under 50 tend to be false positives."

Read the full "The mammogram storm: Benefits vs. risks" story on philly.com.