Allina Hospitals & Clinics Statement on Mammography Screening

[Allina Newsroom, November 18, 2009] Dr. Timothy Sielaff, president of Allina Hospitals & Clinics’ Virginia Piper Cancer Institute, released the following statement on the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommendation on routine screening mammography in women aged 40 to 49 years.

The USPSTF is one of several different groups offering screening mammography recommendations. Other groups that we respect, including the American Cancer Society, continue to support the existing evidence-based recommendations. Therefore, within the Allina breast programs, we are not changing our practice at this time, which is to recommend annual mammograms for women 40 and older. Allina will continue to review its recommendation to patients as new evidence becomes available.