THESE ARE DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS. FINAL GUIDELINE AND RECOMMENDATIONS WILL BE RELEASED AT A LATER DATE.
If you have symptoms like a breast lump, these recommendations do not apply to you. Please talk to a healthcare provider.
The facts about breast cancer screening may be surprising. There are both benefits and harms of breast cancer screening.
Breast cancer screening is a personal choice.
We want to give you the information you need to make the decision that’s right for you.
The draft recommendations and decision-making tools will be open for 6 weeks of public comment until July 11, 2024.
Checking for a disease when there are no symptoms
A diagnostic test used when there are symptoms, like a breast lump
We recommend that women aged 40 to 74 get the information about benefits and harms of breast cancer screening to make the decision that’s right for them. This should include how age, family history, race and ethnicity, and breast density (if known) may impact benefits and harms of screening.
Read the specific recommendations here.
Talk to your health care provider about what’s right for you or use our tools to get informed.
If a woman aged 40-74 is given this information and wants to be screened, they should be offered mammography screening every 2-3 years.
“We all want to find ways to reduce the burden of this disease and improve outcomes. People may find that information about breast cancer screening is surprising – there are potential benefits to screening, but there are also harms. We want women to have all the information they need to make the decision that’s right for them.”
Dr. Guylène Thériault, a family physician, teacher of evidence-based medicine and chair of the Task Force and breast cancer working group.
These recommendations are based on a comprehensive evidence review of more than 165 studies, including recent observational studies, randomized controlled trials, mathematical modelling, data from Statistics Canada and other sources to ensure the Task Force had the most recent evidence for the draft recommendations.
The guideline working group included four breast cancer content experts (a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, a surgical oncologist, a radiologist), three patient partners, as well as family physicians, nurse practitioners, evidence review teams and other experts.
**Moderately increased risk: People with dense breast category C or D or moderate family history (no more than one first degree or two second degree relatives diagnosed after 50). Learn more.
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