Canada should follow U.S. call to screen for breast cancer at 40, doctors and patients say – CBC

Mammograms beginning at 50 risk missing early, aggressive cancers

May 09, 2023

Doctors and breast cancer survivors are urging Canada to follow the example set by a U.S. task force and lower the recommended age for regular screening mammograms to 40.

The draft recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, released Tuesday, says that “new and more inclusive science” has led it to call for screening mammograms every two years for women between the ages of 40 and 74. Previously, screening for average-risk patients was recommended beginning at age 50.

“This is the right move,” said Dr. Mojola Omole, a surgical oncologist with the Scarborough Health Network in Toronto.

She said she’d like to see Canada go a step further than the Americans, though, and recommend annual screening beginning at age 40 — particularly for Black, Hispanic and Asian patients.

“We know that Black women and Asian women, their peak incidence [of breast cancer] is actually 10 years earlier than Caucasian counterparts,” Omole said.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/breast-cancer-screening-guidelines-1.6837907