Should breast cancer screening start at age 40? Doctors, survivors call on Canada to follow U.S. lead
CTV
An influential U.S. health panel is recommending mammograms begin at age 40 rather than 50, a move that a number of Canadian doctors and breast cancer survivors have also been demanding for years.
An influential U.S. health panel is recommending mammograms begin 10 years earlier than the current recommendation, a move that a number of Canadian doctors and breast cancer survivors have also been demanding for years.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a draft guidance on Tuesday calling for biannual breast cancer screenings to start at age 40. Currently, national guidelines on both sides of the border recommend screenings start at 50.
In Canada, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths. But for many Canadian women in their 40s, mammograms are often a request, not a recommendation.
The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Care -- the Public Health Agency of Canada's independent expert panel -- currently recommends mammograms every two to three years for women aged 50 to 74.
For women aged 40 to 49, the task force recommends against mammograms unless they're at an increased risk of breast cancer.
"The balance of benefits and harms is less favourable for women of this age than for older women," the task force says on its website.
But groups like Dense Breasts Canada have been petitioning the federal health minister to begin routine mammogram testing at 40, when the cancer is often more aggressive. Some provinces are already doing routine screening for breast cancer at 40, such as B.C., P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.
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