When should you get a mammogram? Conflicting advice makes it hard to know
Deciding when to get a routine mammogram is complicated due to conflicting guidelines. Some health organizations recommend starting at age 40 or 45, while others suggest age 50. The differences arise from varying assessments of risk and the benefits versus harms of screening.
- ▪More than 320,000 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
- ▪The American College of Physicians recommends that average-risk women ages 50 to 74 get an every-other-year mammogram.
- ▪The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently changed its guidance to start every-other-year mammograms at age 40.
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Women's HealthWhen should you get a mammogram? Conflicting advice makes it hard to knowDeciding when to get a routine mammogram is confusing. Guidelines disagree on whether to begin at age 40, 45 or 50, and whether a yearly or every-other-year scan is best.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00A doctor looks at mammogram imagery, regular mammogram on the left, and contrast enhanced mammogram on the right, in 2024, in Houston.Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 16, 2026, 9:51 AM EDTBy The Associated PressDeciding when to get routine mammograms is confusing. Some health groups recommend women begin at age 40 or 45 while another recently opted for age 50.
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