Cancer prevention: ‘More testing is not always better’

Last year, new guidelines recommended against routine mammograms for non-high-risk women in their 40s because the chance of false positives and unnecessary treatment is far greater than saving a life. For similar reasons, a blue-ribbon task force in the United States declared the PSA test useless last year. In August, Ontario joined other provinces when it declared sexually active women should undergo Pap tests starting at 21 instead of within three years of first sexual activity, and that routine screening could be done on three-year intervals instead of every one or two years. Yet a year on, it’s clear we’re still grappling with the new guidelines. Last week, the Canadian Cancer Society in Ontario released a survey that found more than 40 per cent of women believe routine mammograms should start when a woman is in her 40s, even though guidelines recommend beginning screenings after age 50. As this later-may-be-better approach runs counter to everything we believe about cancer detection, these guidelines have sparked confusion, uncertainty and fear. Read the complete news article here.