JOINING US AT 5:30. I'M ALICE KANG. AND I'M STEWART LEDBETTER. FEWER WOMEN ARE BEING SCREENED FOR BREAST CANCER. A NEW STUDY OUT OF U-V-M SHOWS -- VERMONT HAD THE ááSECOND LARGEST DROP IN SCREENINGS FOR WOMEN OVER 40 BETWEEN 2009 AND 2018. NBC5'S SID BEWLAY spoke with UVM's cancer center to find out why. sid? IN 2009, NATIONAL GUIDELINES CHANGED FOR ááSOME AGE GROUPS REGARDING WHEN TO GET A MAMMOGRAM. BUT NOW -- DATA SHOWS THAT WOMEN IN ááEVERY AGE GROUP, ARE GETTING SCREENINGS LESS OFTEN. RESEARCHERS AT UVM SAY, THEY COMPILED DATA FROM TWO THOUSAND TWO TO TWO THOUSAND EIGHTEEN ON MAMMOGRAMS NATIONALLY AND IN VERMONT -- AND THEY REPORT A BIG SHIFT AFTER 2009. <DR. SARAH NOWAK, ASSISTANT PROF. PATHOLOGY AND LAB MEDICINE, UVM; "IN 2009, THE U.S. PREVENTATIVE SERVICES TASK FORCE ISSUED NEW GUIDELINES AROUND BREAST CANCER SCREENING."> <LOWER 3 GFX> DOCTOR SARAH NOWAK SAYS...BEFORE THE NEW GUIDELINES, ALL WOMEN OVER THE AGE OF 40 WERE ADVISED SCREENINGS FOR BREAST CANCER AT LEAST ONCE EVERY ONE TO TWO YEARS. <DR. KARA LANDRY, BREAST ONCOLOGIST AND CANCER GENETICIST, UVM; "PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER BY MAMMOGRAPHY, WE KNOW HAVE BETTER SURVIVAL RATES."> <LOWER 3 GFX> BUT THE TWO THOUSAND NINE NATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS SAY, ONLY WOMEN BETWEEN AGES 50 AND 74 NEED TO BE SCREENED THAT OFTEN. ALL OTHER WOMEN AGES 40 AND UP, SHOULD MAKE A PERSONAL PLAN WITH THEIR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER. <DR. SARAH NOWAK, ASSISTANT PROF. PATHOLOGY AND LAB MEDICINE, UVM; "WE WOULD EXPECT TO SEE THAT THE GUIDELINES WOULD LEAD TO DECREASED SCREENING FOR WOMEN IN THEIR 40S AND WOMEN 75 AND OLDER, BUT WHAT WE FOUND WAS THAT IT'S ALSO LEADING TO DECREASED SCREENING FOR WOMEN AGES 50 - 74."> NOWAK SAYS -- THAT WAS A SURPRISE SINCE THOSE WOMEN ARE IN THE MOST AT-RISK AGE GROUP FOR BREAST CANCER. <GFX OF NATIONAL AVG DATA POINTS> AND OVERALL, NATIONAL SCREENING RATES HAVE FALLEN IN áá EVERY AGE GROUP SINCE THE CHANGE. NOWAK SAYS -- THERE'S A LOT OF REASONS WHY THAT COULD BE, <GFX OF VT AVG DATA POINTS> BUT SHE ALSO SAYS THE RESEARCH TEAM FOUND THAT VERMONT WOMEN, IN ALL AGE GROUPS, WERE GETTING SCREENED ALMOST TWO TIMES ááLESSáá THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. <DR. SARAH NOWAK, ASSISTANT PROF. PATHOLOGY AND LAB MEDICINE, UVM; "IT'S TOO EARLY TO TELL WHAT THE EXACT DOWNSTREAM CONSEQUENCES OF THIS IS GOING TO BE."> BUT NOWAK SAYS IT COULD MEAN A LATER DIAGNOSIS, WHICH DOESN'T HELP. <DR. KARA LANDRY, BREAST ONCOLOGIST AND CANCER GENETICIST, UVM; "WHEN BREAST CANCER IS DETECTED AT AN EARLIER STAGE, THE PERSON IS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE MORE TREATMENT OPTIONS THAT ARE LESS AGGRESSIVE AND WELL MAINTAINING A POSITIVE OUTCOME."> LOOKING AHEAD, THE STUDY CLAIMS THAT WITH THOSE WOMEN NOT BEING UP TO DATE IN THEIR SCREENINGS, IT ááCOULD IMPACT AROUND 10 THOUSAND PEOPLE HERE IN VERMONT. BOTH DOCTORS SAY, IF YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR POTENTIAL RISK OF BREAST CANCER, REACH OUT TO YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER TO LEARN MOR