PHOENIX -- New federal mammogram guidelines have some women questioning, why?
Sherry Gage found out she had cancer at 40 years old.
"I cried yesterday, it was hard because I would have never been diagnosed," said Gage.
That's because of new recommendations by the
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
The new guidelines are for the general population, not those at high risk of breast cancer because of family history or gene mutations
They say:
--Most women in their 40s should not routinely get mammograms.
--Women 50 to 74 should get a mammogram every other year until they turn 75, after which the risks and benefits are unknown. (The task force's previous guidelines had no upper limit and called for exams every year or two.)
--The value of breast exams by doctors is unknown. And breast self-exams are of no value.
"It was very hard for me to feel that I was not important to this group of people and thats how I felt, whether they meant it or not because I would not have been screened for 10 years after that cancer was in my breast," Gage said.
Some health officials are saying catching cancer early is a key to survival.
"We were outraged, it seems like such a backward step," said Medical Director of John C. Lincoln Breast Health and Research Center Dr. Linda Greer.
Greer says the new screening recommendations are wrong.
"It just seems ludicrous to say that its not any benefit to woman under the age of 50 and that women over 75 should no longer have mammograms," said Greer.
It seems to advocates against the recommendations, the suggestions are about saving money.
"I foresee insurance companies will want to, if they follow historically, that they will not cover mammograms until the age of 50 and every other year and that scares me," Gage said.
She says an early mammogram saved her life.
"I want to be here, I want to be here for my kids and I wouldn't be without that screening," Gage said.
Now she's cancer free.
