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Importance of Breast Cancer Screening
Importance of Breast Cancer Screening
An estimated 810 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 180 will die every year in Nova Scotia. (Based on prediction model, source: https://cancerstats.ca/Incidence/Region)
Breast cancer screening promotes early detection of breast cancer.
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.
Why regularly get a mammogram?
Why regularly get a mammogram?
Mammograms are key for early detection of cancer.
Early on, mammograms serve as a baseline and give radiologists an opportunity to compare records, should anything questionable arise, helping to identify possible risks.
Mammograms help to track breast changes over time.
Mammograms are proven to reduce mortality in women by catching cancer earlier.
Even in women with dense breast tissue, mammograms are important and can detect cancer.
Mammograms identify breast density.
Mammograms only take a few minutes, they don't damage breast tissue and they might save your life.
Start screening annually at age 40.
Start screening annually at age 40.
Why Screen in the 40's? (Because they are worth saving too)
Why Screen in the 40's? (Because they are worth saving too)
Seventeen percent of breast cancers are found in women in their 40s.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women aged 40-49. Women of that age account for 17.5% of breast cancer deaths.
Women in their 40s represent 27% of the life-years lost to breast cancer and have the most years of life to gain when screening is performed.
Although breast cancer is less common in younger premenopausal women, it is more aggressive because of the presence of ovarian hormones.
Systemic Racism
All women can have dense breasts, however:
Black and Asian women have dense breasts more often than white women.
Black, Asian, and Hispanic women are at an increased risk for breast cancer at a younger age than white women.
Breast cancer in Black women peaks in the mid-forties, and it can be more aggressive.
Black women are 30-40% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women.
Current policies discriminate against these groups by denying women with dense breasts supplementary screening.
Gender Inequity in Healthcare
Gender Inequity in Healthcare
Women's health continues to be understudied and under-funded.
Women are more often misunderstood, misdiagnosed and misrepresented than men.
Women face more barriers when accessing healthcare.
Screening Saves Lives
Early detection of breast cancer saves lives and improves quality of life. Five-year survival when diagnosed at Stage 1 is 99.8 percent, but at Stage 4 it is 23%. Early detection could provide an opportunity to avoid chemotherapy, mastectomy, and axillary dissection. Nova Scotians with dense breasts need supplementary breast cancer screening.
Breast density matters: Nova Scotian women are informed about breast density following a mammogram but are then told supplementary screening is not permitted, even when their life depends on it.
The Evidence
Click here for more information about the proven effectiveness of supplementary screening in women with dense breasts.
Click here to read a review by Ontario Health, 2023, that found supplementary screening to be cost effective.
Rising costs of treatment are a contributing factor to the cost effectiveness of screening. Click here to read more on costs.
Statistics
(source for charts below: https://cancerstats.ca/Incidence/Region)
Nova Scotian women have the highest projected incident rate of cancer per 1000 women, in the country.
Nova Scotian women have the highest projected mortality rate of cancer per 1000 women, in the country.
Breast cancer was projected to be the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in Nova Scotia.
Breast cancer was projected to be the 2nd leading cause of cancer death for women in Nova Scotia.
Lung and Bronchus 380, Breast 180, Colorectal 160.
Breast cancer is projected to be the third leading cause of cancer related death for all Nova Scotians, regardless of sex.
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