Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, in fact more than 190,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths from the disease are expected this year in the U.S. with more than 7,000 new cases expected in Michigan in 2010.

Dr. Michael Gedwell, Director of Women's Imaging at Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc stresses routine mammography and says it's an important tool in the fight against breast cancer.

"Studies I've seen show that one in eight women will eventually have a diagnosis of breast cancer in their lifetime," Dr. Gedwell said. 

But survival rates are good if diagnosed early. Medical experts say mammography is a woman's biggest defense tool in detecting breast cancer before it's too late. "It's my college stand point atleast for the college of radiology that we begin annually at age 40," Dr. Gedwell said.

For more than a decade the American Cancer Society has been encouraging the same. But just last year, in 2009, new controversial guidelines were issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force saying most women don't need mammograms in their 40s and should instead, get one every two years starting at age 50 until the age, 75.

Dr. Gedwell says one reason for the new guidelines has a lot to do with things that could potentially cause harm during a mammogram screening.

"One that is very minimal really is the exposure to radiation," Dr. Gedwell says. "I think the benefits of mammography certainly outweigh the small exposure you receive during mammograms of radiation."

However, outside of the controversy surrounding the guidelines, one thing remains for sure... breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American women.

"While it has certainly become lessened from the advent of screening mammography, breast cancer is still a problem and people have to be aware of it," Dr. Gedwell added.