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Last week, women across the nation watched as a debate raged regarding what the proper age was to start getting regular mammograms.

First, a government task force recommended women start getting mammograms at age 50, and every two years after that.

Less than 48 hours after that report was released, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced recommendations for women to begin mammograms at age 40 were not changing.

With this back-and-forth dialogue, many women are getting confused about all of the new information released and how often they should get mammograms. Here is where the current recommendations for women stand at the moment.

What are the current recommendations, and what are they based upon?

According to the American Cancer Society, women should start having regular mammograms at age 40, and then have them done annually after that.

The American Cancer Society has said annual screenings allow doctors to catch the tumors before they have a chance to become more aggressive. The earlier evidence of a tumor is found, the more time doctors have to work with the patient.

However, the government task force has said that by having annual mammograms, women could be exposing themselves to too much radiation over time, especially since many mammograms come back negative.

Local doctors are sticking with the current recommendations.

"It's a whole lot easier to treat a woman who comes in and has a very small find on a mammogram ... as opposed to a woman who comes into my office with a mass that's stage three or even stage four," said Dr. John Lorenzetti, medical director of the Breast Health Program for AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center's two campuses.

Lorenzetti said about 80 percent of women who get a biopsy done to detect breast cancer end up not having the cancer. However, he said the minimally invasive biopsy is worth the trouble, since the test is far less intrusive than the surgery needed for someone with advanced stage breast cancer.

New Jersey is one of several states that mandates health insurance companies cover some or all of the costs of mammograms. That coverage is based on the current recommendations from the American Cancer Society. Medicare also covers mammograms beginning at the age of 40.

There are also some programs, such as the Cancer Education and Early Detection program, or CEED, at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, that cover mammograms for uninsured or underinsured women.

How much radiation do you get from a mammogram?

The estimates can vary, but the average mammogram delivers about 70 millirem of radiation. By comparison, an average person usually is exposed to about 360 millirem of radiation in a year. A lethal amount of radiation exposure is somewhere around 500,000 to 600,000 millirem, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"The amount of radiation is very, very small," said Dr. Alicia Daniels, a board certified radiologist and head of women's imaging at Southern Ocean County Hospital in Stafford Township..

Mammograms also deliver much less radiation because of the way they are being done today. Digital mammograms are done in less time and need much less radiation to get an image while also producing better quality images for doctors to examine.

"(Digital technology) has been huge all around for mammograms," said Courtney Humphrey, quality coordinator in diagnostic imaging at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point.

Who would get a mammogram before the age of 40?

One thing the task force report didn't dispute was that some women have certain risk factors and should still be screened early in life.

The main risk factor has to do with genetics. Someone who carries a mutated BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene is about five times more likely to develop breast cancer than someone who doesn't carry either of those genetic mutations, according to the American Cancer Society.

However, the genetic mutations only make up about 10 percent of all cases of breast cancer diagnosed each year, according to Anne Marie Taggart, manager of the cancer program at Shore Memorial.

There are other risk factors, such as obesity, excessive drinking and smoking, and people who have more dense breast tissue. Besides improving the diet and cutting out smoking and drinking, there's really only one way to reduce the risk.

"We know that exercise decreases the risk of breast cancer," Taggart said.

Do mammograms and early detection work?

Breast cancer needs to be treated, and for the last couple decades, early detection seems to be working.

Deaths from breast cancer have dropped more than 2 percent every year since 1990, according to the American Cancer Society's Breast Cancer Facts and Figures 2009-2010 report.

"People survive breast cancer today," Lorenzetti said.

The most recent data from 2006 suggests the death rate from breast cancer has dropped about 30 percent in 1990, the same year the U.S. government launched a stepped-up breast cancer awareness program.

However, researchers have also found that African-American women have a 40 percent greater risk of dying from breast cancer. The American Cancer Society also estimates 40,170 women in the United States will die from breast cancer in 2009.

Contact Ben Leach:

609-272-7261

BLeach@pressofac.com

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