Breast Cancer Screening - Dense Breasts

On November 15, 2023 I did a Member's Statement about Breast Cancer Screening, especially the need for additional screening women with dense breasts via ultrasound. You can learn more on the Dense Breasts Canada website. I also asked questions about screening for women with dense breasts, advocating for government to offer ultrasounds on PEI, or pay for women to travel off-Island to get ultrasounds. The previous Minister had committed to a study to look at the costs of dense breasts ultrasounds for early detection as compared to the costs of treating later stage cancer, and I asked for an update on this study as well.

Breast Cancer Screening - Member's Statement

Hansard-15 November 2023 (PDF) Transcript starting on page 8 of 62 (page 1959 of Hansard) Speaker: The hon. Member from Rustico-Emerald. Breast Cancer Screening B. Trivers: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Every year, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this year’s theme, “No one should face breast cancer alone,” serves as a reminder for providers to consider the many ways they can partner with patients and families in the prevention, detection, and treatment of breast cancer. It is a plea to everyone to keep an eye on the well-being of the significant women in their lives. In Canada, breast cancer is still the most common cancer diagnosed among women. An estimated one in eight women in Canada will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. It often seems like it’s much more than that, when I talk to my friends and neighbours. Early detection is the best prevention. When breast cancer is detected and treated early, the chances of successful treatment improve, and that is why early detection is so key. Breast imaging is the examination of the breasts to demonstrate any changes or abnormalities using mammography and/or ultrasound. A mammogram is an X-ray test of the breast tissue, and it can provide information about lumps, calcifications, and other abnormalities that may be present in the breast. It’s also available for screening purposes for women without any breast problems. However, dense breasts make it harder for doctors to spot cancer because both cancer and dense breast tissue appear white on mammograms. A camouflage effect is created. This is why breast ultrasounds are so important. Breast ultrasounds use sound waves, not radiation, to show breast tissue. A breast ultrasound can show areas of the breast, including the areas closest to the chest wall that are difficult to see in a mammogram. Breast ultrasound is used to check any abnormalities in the breast and provide further information. This is why it is so important that a person knows what their breast density is so they can get an ultrasound, and as of January 2020, any person who gets a mammogram on PEI is informed of their breast density category in their mammogram results letter. Our PEI government committed to screening ultrasound for women with category D breasts – those are the ones that are most dense – but it is really unclear to me whether that has been implemented yet. Advocates tell me ultrasounds should also be available to those with category C breast density. It is essential that screening ultrasound is accessible to women in PEI who have dense breasts. This will save lives. I should mention as a public service announcement: to request an appointment for breast screening, you can visit Skip the Waiting Room, or you can call toll-free 1- 888-592-9888, or you can call the Queen Elizabeth Hospital or Prince County Hospital. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Questions on Breast Cancer Screening for Dense Breasts

https://youtu.be/_5ZJfEkeDsw Hansard-15 November 2023 (PDF) Transcript starting on page 18 of 62 (page 1969 of Hansard) Speaker: The hon. Member from Rustico-Emerald. B. Trivers: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Advanced screening and detection is one of the best defenses against breast cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. Breast density makes it harder to detect cancer because both cancer and dense breast tissue appear white on mammograms. This government has committed to screen ultrasounds for women with category D dense breasts because it will save lives. Breast cancer screening Question to the Minister of Health and Wellness: Why are scanning ultrasounds for women with dense breasts not yet available on PEI, and will you commit to a date for when screening ultrasounds for women with dense breasts will be offered on PEI? Speaker: The hon. Minister of Health and Wellness. Hon. M. McLane: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I thank the member for the question. I appreciate his advocacy. As a father of three daughters, I appreciated his statement today. If that can bring awareness to one single person to take that step to have a mammogram, I think we’re on the right path. I know in 2022, about 9,500 females on PEI did participate in the screening. I would agree with him that we need to continue to look at the technology and the research and see if we can support this population as best we can. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Speaker: The hon. Member from Rustico-Emerald, your first supplementary. B. Trivers: Thank you, Madam Speaker. We need ultrasound screening for women with dense breasts because breast ultrasound uses soundwaves, not radiation, to show breast tissue. A breast ultrasound can show areas of the breast including the areas closest to the chest wall that are difficult to see in a mammogram. Breast ultrasound is used to check any abnormalities in the breast and provide further information. This is why breast ultrasounds are so important for the detection of cancer for those with dense breasts. Question to the Minister of Health and Wellness: Since we don’t have it here on the Island, would the Province ever consider paying for Island women with dense breasts to get screening ultrasounds off-Island until these life-saving resources are available here locally? Speaker: The hon. Minister of Health and Wellness. Hon. M. McLane: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and again, I thank the member for the question. I appreciate his advocacy. I know in 2022, we did purchase three new pieces of mammography equipment on PEI to improve that part of the screening process. I do know that there was a study released in April by Canada’s Drug and Health Technology Agency that dense breasts of over 75% may be an applicable path, but again, I think we need to look at some more research in order to do that to ensure that, again, back to false positives and so on, that we can do a better job of doing this service for Islanders. Thank you. Speaker: The hon. Member from Rustico-Emerald, your second supplementary. B. Trivers: Thank you, Madam Speaker. We need to really look at ultrasound breast screening. We need it now. We need it for women with dense breasts so that we can detect breast cancer early and treat it. In fact, just over one year ago, I asked the former Health minister: “Will you commit to working with whoever you need to to analyze the benefits of increased dense breast screening” – like via ultrasounds – “versus all of these costs associated with later detection and treatment of breast cancer?” The answer on the floor of this Legislature was, “absolutely, yes.” A question to the current Minister of Health and Wellness: Assuming this work has been done, or at least initiated, what are the benefits of increased dense breast screening versus all of the costs associated with later detection and treatment of breast cancer? Speaker: The hon. Minister of Health and Wellness. Hon. M. McLane: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Again, I would agree with the premise of the question. We obviously don’t make decisions on health versus cost or benefit. Obviously, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I think we will definitely look at the research. I will go back to the department and give you a follow-up on where we are with regards to screening practices on PEI. Thank you, Madam Speaker.