Applying the 2011 Canadian guidelines for breast cancer screening in practice

摘要

For decades, women have been alarmed by the "1 in 9" lifetime prevalence statistic for breast cancer while being reassured that, by participating in screening, early detection was their best hope for survival. At the same time, primary care physicians have been encouraged to increase mammography screening rates, with some provinces providing financial incentives for doing so. It is little wonder, then, that updated guidelines from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care that recommend against screening for women at average risk and younger than 50 years of age, in addition to reducing the frequency of screening for women at average risk of any age, have generated so much controversy. The purpose of this article is to help health care providers understand the differences between the previous and updated guidelines and the practical implications of these changes. The updated guidelines only apply to screening mammography for women at average risk. Breast cancer screening looks for subclinical breast cancer in a woman with no symptoms of the disease.