What is the position of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on screening mammograms?
The National Cancer Institute recommends that women in their forties or older get screening mammograms on a regular basis, every 1 to 2 years. Women who are at increased risk for breast cancer should seek medical advice about when to begin having mammograms and how often to be screened. (For example, a doctor may recommend that a woman at increased risk begin screening before age 40 or change her screening intervals to every year.) • What are the factors that place a woman at increased risk for breast cancer? Every woman has some risk for developing breast cancer during her lifetime, and that risk increases as she ages. However, the risk of developing breast cancer is not the same for all women. These are the factors known to increase a woman’s chance of developing this disease: • Personal History: Women who have had breast cancer are more likely to develop a second breast cancer. • Family History: The risk of getting breast cancer increases for a woman whose mother, sister, or daughte
