Health Feature Articles
Mammogram News
Heartland Cancer Information Service, National Cancer Institute
What is the latest on how often to have screening
mammograms?
The National Cancer Institute recommends that women in
their 40s and older have a screening mammogram (a breast
x-ray in women with no signs of breast cancer) every one
to two years.
Women with higher-than-average risk of breast cancer
should talk with their health care providers about when
to begin mammograms and how often to have them. Factors
that may increase a woman's risk of breast cancer
include:
- Age: A woman is more likely to develop breast cancer as she gets older.
- Personal history of breast cancer: A woman who has had breast cancer is at higher risk for developing the disease again.
- Family history of breast cancer: The risk rises for women with a mother, sister, or daughter who has had the disease.
- History of certain non-cancerous breast conditions: These conditions include atypical hyperplasia (breast cells that have abnormal features and are increased in number) and lobular carcinoma in situ (abnormal cells in the small lobes of the breast).
- Genes: Alterations (changes from the norm) in certain genes increase risk.
- Exposure to hormones: Breast cancer risk is higher for women who began having periods at age 11 or younger, gave birth to a first child at a late age, and/or went through menopause at age 55 or older. Breast cancer risk also is higher for women who use a combination estrogen-progestin menopausal hormone therapy for more than five years.
- Breast density: Breast cancer nearly always develops in the dense tissue of the breast rather than the fatty tissue. For this reason, older women with mostly dense breasts are at higher risk. For more information, call the Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER.
How much does a mammogram cost?
A screening mammogram is an x-ray of the breast that is
used to find cancer in women who have no signs of the
disease. It generally costs between $100 and $150.
Financial help is available in several ways:
- Most states now have laws requiring health insurance companies to pay all or part of the cost of a screening mammogram. Talk to your insurance company and health care providers for details.
- Medicare is the federal government's health insurance program for people 65 and older and people with disabilities. Medicare pays 80 percent of the cost of a screening mammogram each year for beneficiaries age 40 and older, and one baseline mammogram for beneficiaries age 35 to 39. Call Medicare's toll-free hotline at 1-800-633-4227. The TTY/TDD number for deaf and hard of hearing callers is 1-877-486-2048.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pays all or some of the cost of breast cancer screening services through its National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. This program provides mammograms and breast exams by a health professional to low-income, underinsured, and underserved women in all 50 states, six U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, and 14 American Indian/Alaska Native organizations. For more information, contact your state health department or call the Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER.
"Ask the CIS" is distributed by the Cancer Information Service (CIS) of the Heartland, which serves Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri & Illinois. The CIS is a program of the National Cancer Institute. Call the CIS toll-free at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. local time.
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Last Updated 04/25/2008
