A fresh start for Canada’s breast cancer screening guidelines.

Two important statements in The Hill Times deserve attention.

Thank you to Dr. David Keegan, family physician and new Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Preventive Healthcare Services, for stating that as a family doctor, he does not refer to the 2024 draft breast cancer screening guidelines.

Thank you also to Michael Collins, Vice-President at the Public Health Agency of Canada, for clarifying that the 2024 draft guidelines have no official status and that the website hosting them is neither updated nor monitored.

Dense Breasts Canada welcomes these statements and the opportunity for a fresh start. As DBC’s Jennie Dale told The Hill Times, we are calling for a broader, more comprehensive review of breast cancer screening guidelines.

New guidelines must address:
🔹 Screening beginning at age 40
🔹 Additional screening for women with dense breasts
🔹 Screening for women at high risk of breast cancer
🔹 When breast cancer screening should end

But women cannot wait for new guidelines to ask questions about their screening care. If you’re told screening should only begin at 50, that you don’t need an individualized risk assessment, that mammograms alone are enough regardless of breast density, or that screening must stop at 74, ask questions.

These decisions should reflect current evidence and your individual circumstances, not outdated, one-size-fits-all advice.

Please share this post with your healthcare provider, your friends and the women in your life. The 2024 draft guidelines have no official status and should not be treated as official national recommendations.

Canada has an opportunity to get this right. A fresh start must lead to meaningful change.

Women deserve screening that gives them the best opportunity to find breast cancer early.

One size does not fit all.

Read the article here.
HILL TIMES