The federal government has paused the task force that develops guidelines for cancer screening, something a researcher says will save lives.
The federal government has paused the work of the task force that develops guidelines for cancer screening and other preventative healthcare, a move that an Ottawa radiologist and researcher says will save lives.
Dr. Jean Seely, who is head of breast imaging at The Ottawa Hospital, has been a leading critic of the federal Task Force on Preventative Health Care and its approach to breast cancer screening, especially its guidelines that screening should begin at age 50 for most, average-risk women. The task force recommended against starting routine screening at 40.
Seely has published research calling the basis of those screening guidelines flawed and demonstrating increased risk to women who began screening at age 50 rather than earlier.
Ontario and most provinces now allow routine screening to begin earlier, as is the case in other jurisdictions, despite the guidelines, but Seely said they continue to stand as a barrier.
This week Seely called the announcement from federal Health Minister Mark Holland that there would be a temporary pause of the work of the task force “excellent news.”
“The outdated processes and governance of the task force have led to the loss of many Canadian lives from breast cancer. This pause will save lives and reduce the harms of more treatment for late-stage diagnoses of breast cancer,” she said.
The pause comes amid an external expert review that is expected to report in the coming weeks.
In a statement, Holland said the external expert review of the Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care, which was launched last October, “is studying the task force’s governance, mandate and processes.” The review, he said, is advancing quickly.
Holland also said he continues to hear from Canadians and key leaders in the area “who raise their concerns on the existing guidance process of the task force.”
It is because of those concerns Holland said he asked the Public Health Agency of Canada to pause the task force’s work until the review panel finalizes its work and its recommendations can be fully assessed.
Among Seely’s concerns is that the structure of the task force “has not been conducive to a meaningful involvement of experts who understand the impact of the recommendations and understand the literature in a way that is more nuanced.”
She said the structure has to change so that experts play a meaningful role in developing guidelines.
Among other things, her research has found that provinces that adhered to the guidelines had higher rates of more advanced breast cancers, which increases the risk and harm to individual patients and greatly increases costs to the health system. Her research has also shown screening earlier would save hundreds of lives each year and hundreds of millions of dollars in healthcare costs.
Other experts and patient advocates have also criticized the task force guidelines and pushed for earlier screening, including for colorectal cancers which are increasingly being diagnosed in younger people.
