Society of Breast Imaging (SBI) and the American College of Radiology (ACR) have recommended that breast cancer screening should start by the age of 40 or earlier in high risk patients with the appropriate use of effective screening techniques like mammography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound.This has been put forward as a significant drop in mortality due to breast cancer has been witnessed since 1990.This tremendous medical success has been mainly possible due to early detection of breast cancer through mammmogaphy screening as well as other screening technologies in high risk women according to Carol H. Lee, MD.The recommendations that appear in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR) state that the average patient should begin annual breast cancer screening at age 40. High-risk patients should begin by age 30 but not before 25. Evidence to support the recommendation for regular periodic screening mammography comes from the results of several randomized trials (RCTs) conducted in Europe and North America that included a total of nearly 500,000 women. Overall, based on a meta-analysis of the RCTs, there was a 26 percent reduction in mortality.
Though mammography is the only imaging modality that has lead to a significant decline in breast cancer patients, latest advancements in imaging technologies are also considerably helping in early breast cancer detection. Consultation with appropriate experts in breast cancer genetics and/or high risk management should be done in women who have a greater chance of developing breast cancer, cautions Lee.