It only takes a minute of surfing of the Newseum's "today's front pages" to figure out that one story is dominating the news this morning.

As NPR.org's headline reads: "Panel: Begin Mammograms At 50, Not 40."

On Morning Edition, NPR's Brenda Wilson reported about the new recommendation from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force — that most women can begin getting mammogram screenings for breast cancer at age 50, not age 40, and that most women will only need the tests every other year, not annually:


The New York Times summarizes the concern that the researchers have about testing this way:

While many women do not think a screening test can be harmful, medical experts say the risks are real. A test can trigger unnecessary further tests, like biopsies, that can create extreme anxiety. And mammograms can find cancers that grow so slowly that they never would be noticed in a woman's lifetime, resulting in unnecessary treatment.

The Los Angeles Times, though, says the recommendations "set off a furious debate about the importance of the routine screening tool, leaving many women confused about how best to protect their health."

And as Brenda notes in her report, the American Cancer Society stands by its recommendation for annual screening "for all women beginning at age 40."

The task force's recommendations are posted online here. And it has put a summary of its findings here.

Shots, NPR's Health Blog, follows such news here.