at the final session of its annual meeting, citing new studies which backed the value of the tests for younger women. The new policy recommends „annual screening mammograms and clinical breast examinations in asymptomatic women 40 years and older.“ It also encouraged the medical profession in general to come up with a unified recommendation on the matter. The group‘s old policy recommended annual screenings every one to two years, depending on whether a woman was considered at higher risk for the disease because of family history or other factors. The National Institutes of Health held a conference on the issue in 1997 which concluded that there was not enough evidence to recommend yearly mammography for all women in their 40s. The American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology, however, both recommend annual mammography beginning at age 40. The report approved at the meeting cited figures from the cancer society saying that 18 percent of all new breast cancer cases in the United States occur among women in their 40s.