Screening saves lives. Without a diagnosis there can be no treatment and no cure.
Did you know the current Canadian breast cancer screening guidelines are based on flawed studies? Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in Canadian women 40-55 years old.
Our mission is to create universal breast cancer screening program across Canada. Canadian women and their family doctors deserve to have accurate information. In Ontario, women between the ages of 40-49 cannot access a screening mammogram unless they have a referral from their doctor.
Change is needed. Screening Saves Lives.
Learn from breast cancer experts, Drs. Jean Seely, Paula Gordon and Martin Yaffe review the reasons and evidence for the inclusion of women 40+ in breast cancer screening programs and why the CNBSS studies flawed? A recent webcast, provides health care physicians with a balanced, informed discussion about the benefits and limitations of screening mammography at the age of 40. As it stands, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care does not recommend routine mammograms for women between 40 and 49 unless they have pre-existing conditions or higher-than-average risk.
Women in Canada should have the opportunity for early breast cancer detection via mammography screening by self referral starting at age40. Screening saves lives. Without a diagnosis there can be no treatment and no cure.
Flawed Research
The Canadian Task Force (CTF) on Preventive Health Care is comprised of experts in methodology, and includes epidemiologists, nurses, a chiropractor, and a nephrologist. It excludes radiologists who diagnose breast cancers and surgeons and cancer specialists who treat patients. The 2018 CTF guideline advises against mammography for women aged 40-49. The guideline is largely based on the Canadian National Breast Screening Studies (CNBSS). Of eight randomized trials of screening done globally, the CNBSS were the only ones to not show reduced mortality in screened women ages 40-59. The trials have now been proven to be invalid because the randomization process was compromised. They also ignored a 2014 study of screening in Canada that showed 44 percent fewer deaths among women aged 40-49 who had screening mammograms, than women who did not.
“Researchers say a decades-old Canadian study that influenced breast cancer screening policy contained significant flaws in its approach, leading to a “substantial impact” on disease outcomes and potentially contributing to hundreds of “avoidable deaths” per year..”
— Dr. Martin Yaffe