CINCINNATI — It’s no secret how prevalent breast cancer is across the country. According to breastcancer.org, the disease accounts for about 30% of all new cancer cases in women each year. Now, there’s a new push to make sure more women are keeping it at the front of their minds at an earlier age.
Susan Brown knows first-hand just how important it is to get early breast cancer screenings. Her aunt, cousin and mom were all diagnosed with cancer. She’s been getting screenings since she was 40-years-old.
“I knew I had a family history of breast cancer,” said Brown. “I knew I was at risk so I kept with the schedule for annual screening mammograms.”
But she wasn’t prepared for the news she received nearly three years ago.
“During the pandemic, I was due for a mammogram,” she said. “I had a couple of months delay, but then went in for a screening mammogram, and an abnormality was found.”
While she wasn’t diagnosed until she was 66-years-old, more and more women are getting diagnosed at a younger age. That’s why on Tuesday, the U.S Preventative Services Task Force proposed a recommendation that women begin getting screened every other year for breast cancer at the age of 40 instead of 50.
Now in remission, Brown said she realizes just how important it was for her to start getting screenings done earlier and why she hopes others will follow suit.
“The treatment options are more easily tolerated by patients and the costs are lower,” she said. “So again, having the opportunity to get screening at 40 instead of age 50 provides that opportunity to find breast cancer early.”
Brown, along with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, believes the recommendation is a step in the right direction and hope people will truly understand how life-changing it can be to get seen at an earlier age.
“We hope it will prompt conversations between women and their doctors about their risk of breast cancer and about the screening plan that is right for them,” she said.