New guidelines recommend mammograms for women at age 40.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued draft recommendations stating that women should start getting screening mammograms at the age of 40, rather than 50, and have them every two years until the age of 74. The new advice is a change from current guidelines, which formally advise starting biennial screening by age 50. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, aside from skin cancers, and the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in women.