AUSTIN, Texas — A national panel of medical experts is urging women to get screened for breast cancer earlier.
According to the CDC, breast cancer remains the second leading cause of death for women in the U.S. Medical professionals want to try to reduce those numbers
The U.S. Preventative Service Task Force came out with a new recommendation to start getting mammograms at age 40 instead of 50.
Cassie Connerty, a physician assistant who coordinates a high-risk breast cancer program at Baylor Scott & White, said it is important to get a screening.
"There is data to support more lives are saved with earlier screening and annual screenings as well," Connerty said.
The CDC said it's especially important for Hispanic and Black women, who have a greater risk in developing breast cancer, to get screened.
A mammogram is an X-ray that takes about 10 minutes. A patient usually gets results within a day.
"Studies have shown almost a 40% if not greater decrease in mortality or death rate in women who undergo screening mammograms at an earlier age," Connerty said.
Connerty recommends getting a mammogram every year.
"Mammograms can detect years before a woman would be able to feel a mass in her breast, and so by getting a mammogram this allows the smaller masses that we could not feel, which allows for easier treatment and prognosis for women," she said.