lives. reporter: the study doesn t recommend when you should start getting them or how often and that s been the biggest source of confusion and controversy. in 2009, a government advisory board ignited a firestorm after recommending against routine mammograms for women in their 40s. and said women in their 50s only eded mammograms every other year. that recommendation was meant to spare women the worry of a false positive or unnecessary radiation. for people who through thaha process have lost faith in the power of a mammography, what would you say to them? i would say that this study should restore your faith in screening mammography. that while screening mammography is not perfect, the benefits of mammography clearlrloutweigh any potential disadvantage. reporter: and since this study included older technology, it s possible mammograms today are even more effective. now better technology, like 3d breast imaging, have made screening more accurate with fewer unnecessary call-back
mammography from the university hospital, case medical center. good morning. good morning. where do the guidelines stand and do you agree with them? the guidelines from the american cancer society and the american college of radiology is that patients should start at the age of 40, and i do agree with that. the task force that came out in november did recommend at the age of 50 that patients start screening mammography, but i agree with the american college of radiology and the american cancer society. why the discrepancy here? well, actually, they looked at the number of patients who would be saved by screening mammography, and they thought that the number of patients saved between the ages of 40 and 49 were not enough. we disagree and we think that there are enough patients saved by screening mammography. we find cancers much earlier when we screen patients with mammography. we find them before they re felt and we find them early enough so