Monday, June 21, 2004 Posted: 9:20 AM EDT (1320 GMT) ... The
message still hasn't gotten out that mammography will save
lives. -- Dr. Herman Kattlove, medical editor American Cancer
Society ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- After more than a decade of
urging by doctors that women over 40 should receive mammograms
yearly, few actually do so, according to a large cancer study.
Only 6 percent of women who received a mammogram in 1992
received mammograms yearly for the next 10 years, according to a
study of 72,417 women of all ages at Massachusetts General
Hospital, the largest look at mammography to date. The American
Cancer Society recommends that all women 40 and older receive a
mammogram and a breast exam yearly. Younger women are encouraged
to receive a breast exam every three years.