Evidence-Based Breast Cancer Prevention: The Importance of

Widespread use of screening mammography has beenthe mainstay of breast cancer prevention in the United States for the past 25 years. An estimated 64 % of women aged 40 to 49 years and 72 % of women aged 50 to 65 years self-report having mammography within 2 years (1). A total of 63 % of U.S. women who have mammogra-phy routinely do so every 9 to 20 months—women aged 50 to 69 years are examined on average every 14 months (2, 3). By comparison, women are rarely assessed for risk for breast cancer and rarely receive chemoprevention, even if they are at high risk for breast cancer (4, 5). Major changes to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) breast cancer screening recommendations (6) and impor-tant information about breast cancer prevention (7–9) in this issue should compel clinicians to examine whether cur-rent prevention practices in the United States are consis