Your Breast Cancer Screening May Not Be Right For You
Demand risk-adjusted, personalized screening
When my breast surgeon looked at my MRI from six months earlier and said, “Wow, isn’t that cool? It wasn’t there,” I understood exactly what fast-growing cancer means.
My cancer appeared between screenings. But because I was screened every six months based on my actual risk—not some arbitrary age-based guideline—it was caught small. Not a threat.
Most women don’t get that chance.
Dr. Laura Esserman has just demonstrated, with 47,000 women, that risk-based screening isn’t just safe—it’s better. In the highest-risk group screened every six months, zero women developed stage 2B or higher cancers.
Zero.
Meanwhile, 30% of women with genetic mutations had no family history. The system we’ve been relying on is leaving women behind.
Listen as Dr. Esserman (Director of UCSF Breast Cancer Center and my breast surgeon) explains:
Why screening everyone at 40 every other year misses aggressive cancers and over-screens low-risk women
How genetic testing now costs less than a mammogram—and you only do it once
The funding gap blocking this proven approach from reaching every woman who needs it
Her vision for cutting breast cancer diagnoses from 330,000 to 150,000 per year
This isn’t theoretical. It’s proven. And it could save your life.
Listen to the full episode
Paid subscribers: Read the complete breakdown of WISDOM study results, what your insurance should cover, and exactly how to advocate for risk-based screening.
Support the WISDOM Study: giving.ucsf.edu/fund/wisdom
References & Further Reading
WISDOM Study
Esserman LJ, Fiscalini AS, Tice JA, et al. Risk-Based vs Annual Breast Cancer Screening: The WISDOM Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. Published online December 12, 2025. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.24784. Full text
University of California, San Francisco. “UCSF Study Finds a Better Way to Screen for Breast Cancer.” December 12, 2025. Read more
WISDOM Study. “WISDOM 1.0 Study Results: Personalized Breast Cancer Screening is Safe and Smarter.” December 16, 2025. Read more
Park A. “A New Study Challenges the Way We Screen for Breast Cancer.” TIME. December 12, 2025. Read more
Tamoxifen for Breast Cancer Prevention
Fisher B, Costantino JP, Wickerham DL, et al. Tamoxifen for prevention of breast cancer: report of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project P-1 Study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1998;90(18):1371-1388. PubMed
American Cancer Society. “Breast Cancer Prevention: Tamoxifen and Raloxifene.” Read more
Batur P, Blixen CE, Moore HC, Thacker HL, Xu M. Menopausal hormone therapy (HT): an update on alternative and complementary therapies. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 2006. Read more
Cuzick J, Powles T, Veronesi U, et al. Overview of the main outcomes in breast-cancer prevention trials. Lancet. 2003;361(9354):296-300. PMC
Rise Up Conference
UCSF. “RISE UP for Breast Cancer and Women’s Health Conference.” February 19-21, 2026. San Francisco, CA. Conference website
UCSF. “Ideas to Implementation (I2I) Competition.” RISE UP for Breast Cancer Conference. Competition details
Additional Resources
Join the WISDOM Study (ages 30-74, free enrollment): thewisdomstudy.org
Support WISDOM Research: giving.ucsf.edu/fund/wisdom
Register for Rise Up Conference (February 19-21, 2026): riseup.ucsf.edu
Listen to the full interview with Dr. Laura Esserman on the Kicking Cancer’s Ass podcast: