Breast screening eligibility drop from age 50 to 40 will be gradually phased in: Sask. gov't

Saskatchewan is lowering the age women are eligible for breast cancer screening for the first time from 50 years old, down to 40. The Ministry of Health says the change will take effect in January 2025, but will take a gradual, phased approach. 

The expansion will provide screening mammograms to women who do not have symptoms of breast cancer, such as lumps, bloody nipple discharge or skin changes. Eligible women must not have breast implants, not be on active follow-up for breast cancer, and must be cancer free for five years.

Minister of Health Everett Hindley said the phased approach will gradually reduce the age eligibility to 40. He said this rollout plan is in place so the province has the opportunity to recruit the necessary resources.

Hindley said the ministry is in consultation with frontline health-care providers, the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency and other health-care providers to figure out how to best accommodate the expected increased demand for mammograms.

"This the right thing to do — to be able to lower the screening age. But how do we do that? How do we stage it out so that we can do it in a way where we're able to build up the capacity, build up the resources so that as we lower that screening age, that the health-care system itself is able to accept that increase in numbers coming through their doors," Hindley said.

More radiologists, health-care workers needed

Lisa Vick, a breast cancer survivor and advocate in Weyburn, told CBC she is disappointed to hear that the province does not yet have the staff and resources to accommodate their plan to lower the screening age to 40 years old. 

"The drop in age is good news. I mean, how many other provinces are already doing that?" Vick said.

"But now it's a scaled back situation. And is it really going to happen? Because there are women who are breast cancer patients and they're waiting a year and a half just for a follow up."

Vick is the organizer for WeyStrong, a group that aims to provide support to women in the Weyburn community who have been diagnosed with cancer. She said the province needs to work on shortening the waitlists for these women. And that involves recruiting many more health-care workers.

"You need radiologists, you need that. So how are you going to get both that covered, as well as this new mammography kind of situation for women under 50, at the same time? How are you going to speed up the wait times for these women who already have breast cancer and are waiting?" said Vick. 

Expanding screening capacity across Sask.

Meanwhile, the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan is launching a $3.2-million fundraising campaign to expand screening services in the province. 

In 2023, the foundation said it completed a $2-million fundraising campaign for the replacement of the province's 22-year-old breast screening bus.

That new mobile mammography unit is expected to be operational in 2025.

The latest campaign would fund a second mobile unit with a new digital mammography machine that will travel in rural Saskatchewan, and a sport utility vehicle to transport staff to the site of the mobile unit, according to the foundation.

The funds will also go toward two new digital mammography machines for the permanent screening program sites in Regina and Saskatoon.

"This expansion of screening services to women under 50 is good news, and will further support early detection, which can save lives," said Nora Yeates, CEO of the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan.

"But it also means there will be a significant increase in demand for breast cancer screening services in the very near future. The goal of this campaign is to make sure the equipment needed is in place to meet this increased demand for breast screening."

Mammograms are available at the permanent Saskatchewan Cancer Agency centres in Regina and Saskatoon, and at satellite centres in Lloydminster, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Swift Current and Yorkton.

The mobile breast cancer screening program currently provides screening services to women in nearly 40 rural and remote communities across Saskatchewan, according to the foundation.