breast cancer screening before age 50 linked to better survival rates: study

the study, published in the journal of clinical oncology, used data from the canadian cancer registry to compare survival rates of women aged 40-49 years and 50-59 years who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2002 to 2007.  overall, of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer in their 40s, 84.8 per cent of women who had access to screening in their 40s survived for ten or more years, compared to 82.9 per cent of women who lived in areas where routine screening begins in the 50s (a 1.9 per cent increase). when looking specifically at women aged 45-49, the ten-year survival rate of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer and lived in areas with access to screening programs in their 40s was 2.6 per cent higher than those who did not.

anna n. wilkinson, primary author on the study and gp oncologist at the ottawa hospital cancer centre, says this increase in survival rate is similar to the increase that was seen when tamoxifen, one of the most widely used treatments for breast cancer, was added to oncologists’ arsenal.

previously, the team looked at screening ages and the impact it has on advanced breast cancers. their research indicated provinces that did not screen women in their 40s had higher rates of breast cancer in women in their 50s. wilkinson says it is likely screening women in their 40s allows physicians to catch pre-cancerous lesions and other concerning abnormalities, preventing them from becoming cancerous later on.

catching breast cancer early can impact survival

reducing barriers to screening improves survival rates.

“there’s many provinces and territories where women cannot access screening without a physician or primary care provider referral,” says wilkinson . “this is a huge barrier to lots of women who perhaps don’t have a primary care provider.”

for every barrier that exists to getting access to breast cancer screenings — like finding a doctor and then waiting several months for an appointment to get the referral — there’s a drop off in the population that will eventually access screenings. ideally, women would be able to book screenings directly, wilkinson says, with an annual letter or notification from the government reminding them of their ability to do so.

early screenings could be more cost effective.

wilkinson says her team is now looking into the overall cost of earlier screenings, and the unpublished results indicate the upfront cost of screening women earlier may mean a reduction in overall expenditure for treating breast cancer.

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breast cancer screening before age 50 linked to better survival rates: study

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