Private MD News

Canadian agency releases new breast cancer testing guidelines

Category: Breast

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force received a great deal of heat in 2010 when it recommended against regular breast cancer testing for women with an average risk. Now, those guidelines have been affirmed by a group of Canadian experts.

The new recommendations from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care say that healthy women between the ages of 40 and 49 who have no family history of breast cancer should not be tested regularly. Those between the ages of 50 and 75 should be screened every two to three years.

Every women should still discuss their risk with their doctor to determine if breast cancer testing is appropriate, but the new guidelines are based on the latest scientific evidence regarding the efficacy of screening and should be considered a starting point for these discussions, the task force said.

"Providing Canadians with guidelines that reflect the most current scientific evidence is our priority," said Dr. Marcello Tonelli, who led the development of the guidelines. "We encourage every woman to discuss the risks and benefits of screening with their doctor before deciding on the best approach for them."