Medford, Ore. — New mammogram guidelines by the American Cancer Society are concerning some Southern Oregon health care providers. This week the ACS changed it’s recommendations for annual mammograms from age 40 to age 45. The organization says these are only guidelines, and say it will cut down on false positives and unnecessary callbacks. But health care professionals at Providence Medical Center say technology is now better than ever, and early detection is what saves lives.
“We can actually see through the breast in a different way so instead of flattening the breast and making a book shape out of it and looking from cover to cover, we’re now able to open that book and look through the book in one millimeter slices,” Oncology Nurse Navigator, Kate Newgard says.
Providence follows “American College of Radiology” guidelines, which recommends annual mammograms beginning at age 40. They say since implementing the new machines they’ve seen a 41% increase in the detection of invasive breast cancers, and a 15% decrease in women called back for additional imaging.
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