Women -- Should You Get a Mammogram?

Mammography, touted as the gold-standard for breast cancer screening and early detection, is widely recommended for younger women, but guidelines for older women are less clear.

Now, a new study has found that mammograms significantly reduce the risk of being diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer in women over the age of 80.

In total, 12,358 women over age 80 were analyzed. Sixty-eight percent of regular mammogram users were more likely to be diagnosed with early disease, stage I while nonusers and irregular users more often were diagnosed with stages II, III or IV, 56 percent and 33 percent respectively.

The researchers did not find an increase in overall survival rates, however.

"Finding breast cancer early in this age group may not result in survival benefit and it may even increase unnecessary angst in elderly women with other ailments. On the other hand, if the woman is otherwise healthy and could be a surgical candidate, should breast cancer be found by a routine mammogram, perhaps she could be offered less invasive treatment and spared from toxic therapies given to women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer," researchers said.