Advocates point to early cancer detection as Canada reassesses screening recommendations
Global News
After the United States began mulling over plans to lower the recommended age for women looking for breast cancer screening, is Canada ready to follow suit?
Canada’s health-care system has relied on guidelines for cancer screening that were established five years ago, despite calls for a modern taken on an issue affecting millions.
The problem affects many, including women diagnosed with breast cancer. It leaves them wondering, could the pain of such a disease be avoided if the cancer was detected earlier?
The Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health care recommends mammogram screening for women over the age of 50. It recommended that back in 2018 and has since then stuck with it. The US Preventative Service Task Force, on the other hand, is working to change its recommendation — proposing that all women over the age of 40 should get screened every other year.
“We have started, in early 2023, to reinvestigate and look at the most recent evidence,” said Dr. Ahmed Abou-Soutta, co-chair of the Canadian task force, when asked about plans to lower the recommended age.
He said that there is a lot of evidence that can be used to revisit 2018 guidelines. But he also noted that the task force does not implement any sort of policies. Any recommendations made are then used to guide provinces in their decisions.
Abou-Souta is also an assistant professor of health sciences at the University of Manitoba and the Director of Knowledge Synthesis with the university’s health care innovation centre. In an interview with 680 CJOB, he noted the recommendations don’t prevent women from getting screened.
“I think one of the things that confuse a lot of people when they hear about the recommendations… (is) we don’t actually say ‘don’t screen at 40,'” said Abou-Soutta.
“If a woman’s values and preferences align with screening starting from the age of 40, she should have a conversation with her primary health care practitioner to understand the benefits and potential harms of screening.”