FRIDAY, April 17, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Asymptomatic, average-risk women ages 50 to 74 should be screened for breast cancer every two years, according to a guideline statement published online April 17, 2026. Annals of internal diseases which coincides with the Internal Medicine Meeting, the annual meeting of the American College of Physicians, held April 16-18 in San Francisco.
Amir Kasim, MD, Ph.D., of the American College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and colleagues present updated guidelines for internal medicine physicians and other physicians on screening adult women at average risk for breast cancer.
According to the guidelines, physicians should consider breast cancer risk, values and preferences, and uncertainty related to the benefits and harms of breast cancer screening in women aged 40 to 49 years who are at average risk; if women in this population prefer screening, physicians should initiate screening mammography every two years after shared decision making. Clinicians should use biannual mammography for breast cancer screening for women ages 50 to 74 who are at average risk. Clinicians should consider stopping breast cancer screening based on shared decision making in average-risk women who are 75 years of age or older, or asymptomatic average-risk women with a limited life expectancy. Clinicians should consider the use of adjunctive digital breast tomosynthesis for intermediate-risk older women with breast density category C or D breast imaging reporting system and data; Additional magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasound should not be used for these women.
The authors wrote that more studies of breast cancer screening “are needed to evaluate the validity of different methods, the benefits and harms of screening intervals and older women with dense breasts, especially those who receive additional screening.”
In response to the updated guideline statement, the American College of Radiology and the Society for Breast Imaging emphasized that women should begin annual screening at age 40. “The new American College of Physicians breast cancer screening guidelines rely on outdated information and hyperbole, will cause continued confusion among women, and may contribute to thousands of additional breast cancer deaths each year,” the statement said. “Thousands more women endure extensive surgery, mastectomies and chemotherapy for advanced cancer than if their cancer had been detected early through annual mammograms.”
