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The American Cancer Society now says women should start mammograms later in life and get fewer of them, a stance that puts the trusted group closer to an influential government task force's advice. In new guidelines out Tuesday, the cancer society recommends that most women should begin annual screening for breast cancer at age 45 instead of 40, and switch to every other year at 55. The task force advises screening every other year starting at age 50. It's not a one-size-fits-all recommendation; both groups say women's preferences for when to be scanned should be considered. (Tanner, 10/20)

Richard Wender, a member of the breast cancer guideline panel and a former president of the ACS, said that the new recommendations confirm that mammography is the most important thing a woman can do to reduce her chance of dying of breast cancer but that they provide a more “personalized and tailored approach.” (Cha, 10/20)

At age 55, women should cut back to one mammogram every two years and continue that pattern for as long as they are healthy and expect to live at least 10 more years, the cancer society said. That is because breast cancer in that age group grows slowly enough that yearly screenings add only a small benefit while raising the risk of false positives. (Beck, 10/20)

The organization also said it no longer recommended clinical breast exams, in which doctors or nurses feel for lumps, for women of any age who have had no symptoms of abnormality in the breasts. Previously, the society recommended mammograms and clinical breast exams every year, starting at 40. (Grady, 10/20)

Researchers say that, across a 10-year period of getting annual mammograms, women overall have a 50-50 chance of being called back at least once for further testing that turns up nothing cancerous. And that's one reason why the American Cancer Society changed its advice Tuesday. (Neighmond, 10/21)

There have been years of debate and numerous studies questioning the value of these screenings and the age at which they should begin, often forcing women to weigh the risk of false diagnoses and overtreatment vs. early treatment that can save a woman’s life. (10/20)

The American Cancer Society’s new guidelines for mammograms have raised many questions for women. Here are the answers to some of them. (Beck, 10/20)

A high-quality screening mammogram is still considered the best way to catch breast cancer as early as possible. But members of the medical community disagree on what age all women should start getting annual mammograms, and breast cancer screening has become an increasingly polarizing topic as a result. ... But other experts strongly believe all women in their forties should get mammograms, including Daniel Kopans, a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and director of breast imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital. (Kim, 10/20)