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Eligible Ontario residents can now get routine breast cancer screening beginning at age 40, without a referral from a doctor or nurse practitioner.
The change from age 50 to age 40 is something advocates have long called for. It was announced earlier by the Ontario government and took effect this week.
Dr. Jean Seely, the head of breast imaging at The Ottawa Hospital and a leading researcher on breast screening, is among those who have called for routine screening to start earlier, saying it will save lives.
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Among other things, her research has shown that there were significantly lower numbers of women living with advanced-stage breast cancer diagnoses in provinces that had lowered the age for routine screening from 50 to 40. Other research shows rates of breast cancer among women in their 40s have increased significantly in the past five years.
Seely has said lowering the age for routine breast screening in Ontario will save lives.
The shift in Ontario comes at a time when growing numbers of provinces are allowing for earlier routine breast cancer screening, despite federal guidelines that still recommend routine screening begin at age 50. Those who are high risk are screened earlier.
Federal guidelines do allow for routine screenings to begin earlier than 50, in consultation with a physician, but researchers and cancer survivors say women have been routinely turned down. The Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health care, in draft guidelines released earlier this year, said it found the harms of earlier routine screening “may outweigh the benefits”. Those harms could include false positives.
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