EL PASO, Texas -- There’s controversy over new breast cancer screening recommendations. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force says women in their forties do not need yearly mammograms. Now many are speaking out, saying that's just not true.

"I am greatful that my OB-GYN, 5-and-a-half years ago identified that I was turning 40,” said Maria Sanchez, a breast cancer survivor. “And she basically said, 'Happy birthday, here's your first prescription to your first mammogram'."

15 months later, Sanchez was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Now a survivor, she disagrees with new recommendations saying women don't need mammograms until age 50, and that breast self-exams don't really work.

"We found that screening starting at age 50 captured the majority of benefits,” said Dr. Jeanne Mandelblatt of the Lombardi Cancer Centre. “There were additional benefits to screening starting at age forty but the benefits starting screening at age 40 were smaller and they were accompanied by significant harms to women."

Those harms include false positives, resulting in unncessary biopsies and treatments. But the American Cancer Society disagrees with the government task force's findings.

"We have analyzed the same evidence,” said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld with the American Cancer Society. “And we feel that there is not sufficient evidence at this point to warrant a significant change of the type that the task force is recommending. So we continue to recommend if your at average risk of breast cancer, start at age forty, get a mammogram every year."

And local survivors like Sanchez agree, saying breast cancer is hitting women younger and younger.

"I met a 17 year old just last October,” Sanchez said. “What are we supposed to tell her now that she's a survivor? Don't get mammograms until you're 50?”

The task force does say this is just a recommendation, and women should consult their doctors about personal screening. Breast cancer is the most common cancer, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. More than 192,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths from the disease are expected in the U.S. this year.