Publicly traded imaging center operator RadNet Inc. has joined the chorus of advocates urging the USPSTF to go further with new breast cancer screening guidance.
The task force announced its new draft recommendations May 9, urging women to begin screening every other year beginning at age 40, rather than 50. Groups including the American College of Radiology, Society of Breast Imaging, and Susan G. Komen have praised the move while also stressing the importance of annual mammograms to catch cancer earlier.
Los Angeles-based RadNet recently added its voice to the conversation, asking the task force to broaden its guidance.
“These updated, science-based recommendations by the USPSTF for women to begin mammography screening at age 40 are most welcome. However, most lives are saved by annual screening,” Jacqueline Holt, MD, medical director of women’s imaging at the RadNet-affiliated Delaware Imaging Network, said in a statement.
One of the largest providers of freestanding, fixed-site imaging services in the U.S., RadNet has more than 360 centers across the country. Each year, its delivers 1.5 million screening mammograms, and data gathered across the firm supports the need for earlier detection. Patients with breast cancer caught at stage 1 survive the next five years about 99% of the time, and annual screening helps detect tissue changes and assess findings “as quickly as possible,” RadNet said.
Holt and colleagues questioned common arguments against annual screening, while noting that 3D mammography and AI can help mitigate the risk of recalls.
“The USPSTF seems concerned about theoretical harm from annual mammography screening, such as radiation dose, false positives, and anxiety,” RadNet said in its statement. “The harm from missing an interval cancer far outweighs any of the concerns outlined above,” the company added later.
Others supporting the call for annual screening include the American Cancer Society, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, RadNet added. RSNA also recently updated its position statement on breast cancer screening to align with the ACR and others.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.