When Should I Start Having Routine Mammograms?

The average American woman has a 13% chance of developing breast cancer during her lifetime. Put another way: About one in eight women in the United States will get invasive breast cancer at some point, often during middle or older age. 

The key to ensuring early detection, prompt treatment, and the highest possible survival rates? Having regular screening mammograms as recommended. 

At Panhandle Obstetrics and Gynecology in Amarillo, Texas, our women’s wellness team specializes in mammography and early breast cancer detection. In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, we’re here to provide an in-depth answer to one of the most commonly asked questions: When should I start having mammograms?

Mammograms detect breast cancer early

While seven in eight American women will never develop breast cancer, it’s important for all women to start having routine mammograms at the recommended time. Simply put, it’s the best way to detect the disease in its early, most treatable stage. 

The most common female cancer

Breast cancer is responsible for about one in three (30%) new cancer diagnoses in women each year, making it the most common female-specific cancer in the US. The only cancer that’s diagnosed more often is skin cancer. 

A steady decline in mortality rates

Breast cancer also remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women (after lung cancer), despite the fact that the breast cancer mortality rate has steadily declined since 1989 — reaching an overall decline of about 42% by 2021. 

A mammogram can save your life

This steady decline in mortality rates has occurred and will hopefully continue trending downward because more and more women are having regular screening mammograms — a special type of X-ray imaging designed to detect early cancer cells in breast tissue — as recommended. 

General mammogram screening guidelines 

So, when should you start having routine screening mammograms for early breast cancer detection? Set forth as a final recommendation statement by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in early 2024, current guidelines advise the following:

• Have your first screening mammogram at the age of 40
• Continue having mammograms every two years thereafter 
• Stop having screening mammograms after the age of 74

Based on the most current scientific research, these updated guidelines aim to help more women of average breast cancer risk lead longer, healthier lives and reduce their risk of dying from the disease. 

How mammogram guidelines have changed

Previous USPSTF guidelines advised women to begin regular screening mammograms sometime between 40-50 years of age, choosing the time that’s right for them based on a conversation with their gynecologist or primary care provider.

Instead of advocating for an individual decision on mammogram timing during a woman’s 40s, new guidelines simply state that all women start getting screened when they turn 40 and keep getting screened every two years through the age of 74. 

These updated recommendations place the most recent USPSTF guidelines in better alignment with those of six other independent panels and organizations that make breast cancer screening recommendations, including the American Cancer Society. 

What if I have a higher risk of breast cancer? 

If you have a higher-than-average risk of developing breast cancer, you may be advised to have a screening mammogram along with a breast MRI every year starting at the age of 30. 

A high breast cancer risk means that risk assessment tools — mainly genetics (i.e., BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations) or a family history of breast cancer — determine that your lifetime risk of getting the disease is 25% or greater (essentially, double or more the average risk). 

Is it time for your first (or next) mammogram?

Whether you’d like to learn more about your breast cancer risk or you’re ready to schedule your mammogram, we can help. Call 806-359-5468 to schedule a visit at Panhandle Obstetrics and Gynecology today.