When Should Women Begin Getting Mammograms?

When is the right time to start getting a mammogram?

For women who are 40, the time is now.

Megan Sanderson had just turned 40 when she went in for her first mammogram. After getting a surprise no one wants, she's thankful she got scanned.

"I started to do the self-checks in the shower and felt a little something in my left breast... and so, I made my appointment to come in to get my mammogram done," Sanderson said.

Evelyn A. May, M.D., board-certified diagnostic radiologist at the Tyanna O'Brien Center for Women's Imaging at Mercy, delivered the news that Sanderson had stage-one breast cancer.

"Her doctor sent her and she made the appointment. Her first mammogram ever, and her cancer was picked up on a screening mammogram," Dr. May said.

According to Dr. May, she's seeing younger women come in with breast cancer, so she's glad the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends women be screened for breast cancer every other year starting at age 40. The previous recommendations suggested starting at age 50.

"It's going to help a lot of women be detected sooner at earlier stages when the cancer can even be curable," Dr. May said. "Had she not come for 10 years and started at 50, that would have been a lot worse."

The task force explained its reasoning behind the new recommendation, saying it has to do with new and more inclusive science about breast cancer in people younger than 50 and knowing that screening for breast cancer saves lives - just like Sanderson's.

"It was stage one, easily treated. And, yeah, I was very lucky, and I'm so thankful with the screening recommendation being at 40," Sanderson said.

Sanderson is now two years cancer-free and goes for imaging every six months. She had no family history of breast cancer and is glad she can live her life with her family and young daughter.

View Mercy radiologist Dr. Evelyn May's interview regarding when women should begin receiving mammograms.