Editor W hen the US Preventive Services

Task Force announced its rec-ommendation on screening for breast cancer,1 our phones rang daily with journalists, fright-ened patients, and colleagues asking for comment and context. Although not significantly different from studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 19882 or evidence from the informative National Cancer Institute (NCI) sum-maries available online,3,4 people are uncertain as to what, if any, changes should now be recommended for specific patients based on this latest report. It becomes confusing, I believe, when a screening mammogram is done only for asymptomatic, low-risk women. Those with abnormal exams or lumps get a diagnostic mammogram and often an ultra-sonogram and/or MRI. Even if screening mam-mograms are delayed to age 50, women should still screen their breasts earlier and seek immediate at-tention for any abnormalities. Adding to the confusion are three sets of screen-ing guidelines and pending legislation that would force health plans to cover specific screening options regard-less of individual patient risk. To summarize our thre