A new study argues that more frequent screening for breast cancers has benefits particularly to women who are in their 40s. Screening for breast cancer is a controversial subject. Related debates were reignited after Angelina Jolie spoke about certain measures she took to combat breast cancer.

According to a study reported by Live Science, breast cancer is more aggressive in younger women but less aggressive in older women. The study suggests more frequent screening for women under 50 and less frequent screening for women older than 69.

The research studied information obtained from more than 7000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer. The information relates to women who were diagnosed in various hospitals in Boston between 1990 and 1999. The information about the women was available till 2007.

Six hundred nine (609) women had died at the time of the study and 71% of the women who died were those who had not got regular breast screening done. The remaining 29% who died did undergo regular screening.

The women who had died of breast cancer about half of them were below the age of 50. Some experts believe that the study does not tell the whole story. The different treatments the various patients used to combat breast cancer were not taken into account.

Angelina Jolie recently got a double mastectomy done to reduce the chances of her getting breast cancer. It is possible that some genes can cause breast cancer and can be passed on to future generations.

Angelina Jolie's mother had breast cancer and died at the age of 56 after battling cancer for over a decade. Angelina Jolie was said to have had an 80% chance of getting breast cancer, so she decided to be proactive to minimize the possibility.

There have been concerns of "over diagnosis" of breast cancer from early screening. Not all women who have breast cancer develop life threatening complications over their lifetime.

According to the Department of Health and Ageing, Government of Australia, the "BreastScreen" program is aimed at women between the ages of 50 and 69. The women can get the screening done even if they don't have any symptoms.

Women aged between 40 and 49 and women above 70 years can also eligible for free breast cancer screening. The program promotes re-screening every two years for women aged between 50 and 69.