The fact that systematic screening for breast cancer before the age of 50 is considered unnecessary by the Study Group on Preventive Health Care makes Quebec radiologists surprised; they see it as a credibility deficit.
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“It goes against the literature of recent years, but also against all the recommendations of learned societies in the rest of the West, I mean Europe, I mean the United States,” said Dr.r Grégoire Bernèche, president of the Association of Radiologists of Quebec.
Mr. Bernèche deplores the absence of radiologists in the study and preparation of the report.
“We have a hard time taking this report seriously, we think there is a credibility deficit, particularly because it goes against science,” he continued. ’emission The Balance Sheet.
According to the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, systematic screening before age 50 would result in false positives and overdiagnoses.
The Dr Bernèche agrees on this point. “Younger patients have breasts that are denser, which contain more glands and therefore will be more confusing for the radiological reading.”
However, Mr. Bernèche says he prefers the stress generated by false positives to save lives rather than “throwing in the towel to avoid anxiety”, recalling that screening is at the discretion of each woman, therefore without obligation.
The report also considers that no comparative study on the survival benefits has been carried out, which the president of the Association refutes.
“That’s not what we’re pleading because that’s not what we’re experiencing either. […] I think that there were biases to which they were subject which disturb us and at the same time, it is something which sends a quite deleterious message to the population,” he proclaimed.
According to him, the College of Physicians has been encouraging women between the ages of 40 and 49 to get screened for several years.
“The difference is that there is no systematic screening program in which patients aged 40 to 49 receive letters, currently it is only from 50 to 74 years old, but these patients from 40 to 49 years represent 17% of cancer cases in Canada,” he argued.
“In 2024, the best treatment for cancer is early detection,” he added.
Recommended age for screenings according to provinces:
- From 40 years old: British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Yukon
- Will go from 50 to 40 years this year: Ontario and New Brunswick
- From 45 years old: Alberta and Northwest Territories
- From 50 years old: Quebec, Manitoba and Newfoundland
