Screening at 40

Allow MB women in their 40s to self-refer for annual mammograms now.

The Issue

Manitoba women in their 40s cannot yet self-refer for a mammogram at age 40.
Instead, they require a referral from a doctor and are not part of an organized screening program.
If a woman is fortunate enough to have a family physician, doctors are often reluctant to give referrals because Manitoba is clinging to the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care’s outdated, flawed, and dangerous breast screening guidelines that advise against routine screening for average-risk women under the age of 50.  
These controversial guidelines, which have been under fire from breast cancer and radiology experts for years, have recently also been called into question by the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging.

Early Detection is Critical

• Survival depends on the size of the tumour at diagnosis.

• The five-year survival rate of stage 1 breast cancer is 99%

• Those whose cancers have spread to other body parts (stage 4) have a 23% five-year survival rate.

Until there is a cure for breast cancer, we must do everything we can to help women find it early, and mammograms can detect lumps two to three years before they can be felt. Early detection of breast cancer reduces deaths as well as the need for harsh treatments, such as mastectomy, chemotherapy, and axillary dissection. Many women can avoid chemotherapy and return sooner to productive lives in the community.

In conjunction with Statistics Canada, a recent study conducted by Dr. Jean Seely and Dr. Anna Wilkinson of the Ottawa Hospital proves irrefutably how damaging the current Canada Task Force breast screening guidelines have been. The study found that provinces like Manitoba that don’t screen women 40-49 have significantly more advanced and metastatic breast cancer in women 40-49 at time of diagnosis. There are downstream impacts on women 50-59, who have later-stage diagnoses if they are not screened in their 40s. There is increased mortality in women 40-60 when women in their 40’s are not screened.