"The use of mammograms has dipped since a medical task force made controversial recommendations that women in their s may not need to get breast cancer screenings every year according to one of three small studies to be presented Monday. The studies related to this topic will be presented at the American Roentgen Ray Society annual meeting. They do not appear in peerreviewed journals. The studies suggest that fewer physicians are recommending annual mammograms for women in their s fewer patients in that age group are getting screened and that tumors found through routine mammography are more likely to be detected in early stages of cancer. The studies examined the impact of the controversial guidelines issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force a federal advisory board. Who decides about mammograms Inside the task force httpedition.cnn.comHEALTHbreast.cancer.task.force.uspstfindex.html In November  the group stated that yearly mammograms should not be automatic at age  and that physicians should discuss their risks and benefits with their patients. It recommended routine mammography screenings every two years for women ages  to . The benefit in  to yearold women is pretty small said Dr. Virginia Moyer chair of the task force about annual mammograms. There is a real but rather modest benefit. There are also risks and they are greater in younger women than older women. Mammograms are less effective in detecting growths in younger women whose breasts may be denser. The screening gets better with older women because breast tissues change over time. As a result some women experience false positives anxiety and unnecessary biopsies because of mammograms according to data. Roughly  of women in their s detect breast cancer through mammography. Should I get a mammogram httpedition.cnn.comHEALTHexpert.q.abrawley.mammogramsindex.html The benefit is modest enough it needs to be an individual decision Moyer said about mammograms for women in their s. This contradicted advice from cancer groups such as the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure which told women  and older to get screened every year. It sparked immediate outcry from such groups and cancer survivors who say routine mammograms for women younger than  can save lives. Oncedropping U.S. breast cancer rates now stable httpthechart.blogs.cnn.comoncedroppingusbreastcancerratesnowstable Suspicious growths caught in regularscreening mammograms are more likely to be in early stages and therefore more treatable said Dr. Donna Plecha division chief of mammography at University Hospitals at Case Medical Center in Ohio. She reviewed records of  biopsies samples of suspicious growths in breasts from women in their s during  to  at her hospital. Of the  biopsies from screening mammography patients  had cancer. These cancers were more treatable because they were caught in earlier stages Plecha said. Although  of those biopsies turned out to be noncancerous some may show us the patient is at higher risk of breast cancer she said. I havent met many patients who dont appreciate us being thorough to trying to find the cancers at an early stage Plecha said. I would still recommend screening mammograms starting at age of  because cancers caught earlier would be more curable. Breast cancer IDd more accurately by docs who see more scans httppagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.combreastcanceriddmoreaccuratelybydocswhoseemorescans Plechas findings were not surprising to Moyer. Its obvious that annual screenings would catch cancers before they progress she said. The study presumes that catching earlier stages for women between the ages of  would translate into fewer breast cancer deaths. The data that we have suggests that  in a thousand will benefit from mammograms in the  age she said. There are whole lots of assumptions that are not supported by the data they presented. The task force did not say dont get mammograms Moyer said. It might make women not want to get the test she said. This is a decision that should belong to the woman with appropriate info on hand. In another study Dr. Lara Hardesty section chief of breast imaging at the University of Colorado Hospital examined survey results from fewer than  internists gynecologists family practitioners and nurse midwives. She found that fewer clinicians were recommending annual mammograms after the task forces guidelines were issued. Before the guidelines  recommended yearly mammograms for women in the  to yearold range. After the guidelines that rate decreased to  and  of the clinicians reported they were discussing the risks and benefits of screening with patients. That decrease Hardesty said is a statistically significant difference but it also showed more doctors were discussing mammograms with patients. Hardesty also found that there were  fewer mammograms among women in their s after the guidelines were issued. Among patients  and older mammograms increased slightly from  patients to . It was unclear why mammograms in the s decreased while older womens mammograms increased slightly. Hardesty offered this hypothesis Older women are used to having annual mammograms because theyve done it for years. Meanwhile younger women may feel as though they dont have to get this screening. Although the task force concluded that the net benefit of mammography in the s is small Hardesty said If youre the one person we find your cancer its the world to you."