Province to lower breast cancer screening age from 50 to 45 by end of next year

Posted on September 24, 2024 by Peggy

Manitoba will lower the breast cancer screening age from 50 to 45 by the end of next year in an effort to reduce the risk of getting cancer, the health minister announced Tuesday.

The province will phase in a lower age for self-referred screenings, eventually dropping it to 40, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in a news release on Tuesday.

Implementation is already underway, Asagwara said, with CancerCare Manitoba leading work to hire more mammography technologists and increase screening appointments for individuals age 50 to 74.

The breast screening program will nearly double its capacity to over 80,000 screening mammograms per year and ensure that “vulnerable people — especially marginalized and low-income women — are able to access the care they need,” the minister said.

There were more than 195,000 women age 50 to 74 in Manitoba at the time of the 2021 census, Statistics Canada says. CancerCare Manitoba advises women in that age group to get a mammogram every two years.

The change comes after a draft of new Canadian screening guidelines suggests that people be allowed to request a mammogram starting at age 40, but mammograms shouldn’t be routinely done on all women and gender diverse people under 50.

The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care — a Public Health Agency of Canada-created panel of health professionals that offers guidance on creating guidelines for health-care practitioners — “does not recommend regular screenings for women under 50 who are of average risk,” a spokesperson previously told CBC News.

Manitoba currently recommends routine mammogram screening for women and gender diverse people age 50 to 74 every two years without needing a doctor’s referral. Routine screenings aren’t recommended for people under 50 or over 74.

Women age 40 to 49 can self-refer to breast screening programs in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Yukon.

Ontario announced it will allow self-referrals for breast cancer screenings beginning at age 40 starting this fall and Saskatchewan is following suit using a phased approached that will be in effect in January.

Both the Northwest Territories and Alberta have routine screening starting at age 45.

Guidelines from CancerCare Manitoba say early detection through screenings in women age 50 to 74 can reduce mortality from breast cancer by up to 20 to 30 per cent.

Breast cancer is a major health concern in Canada, with one in eight Canadian women diagnosed in their lifetime.