Improving the use of cancer screening for older women.

Breast cancer is a serious disease in terms of incidence and mortality for older women. Older women are likely to receive substantial benefit from mammography because of their increased risk for the disease. However, most women older than 65 years are not getting regular mammograms. There are a number of barriers to breast screening for older women, but perhaps none is more important than the lack of a physician recommendation. Tailored programs are needed if the promise of breast cancer screening is to be realized for older women. Such programs should reflect the heterogeneity of older women. In addition, physicians must be collaborators because of their central role influence.