Why this doctor wants women to go for breast cancer screening at age 40, not wait 'til 50

Dr. Paula Gordon, of Vancouver, is a renowned Canadian radiologist and breast cancer specialist. She also recently became a recipient of the Order of Canada for her pioneering research into using ultrasound to detect hard-to-spot breast cancers. But that was decades ago. Now, Gordon—a professor at the University of British Columbia's medical school—is campaigning for expanded screening for breast cancer, starting much younger and more often.

Gordon is calling for mammograms to be offered beginning at age 40. Currently, most provinces offer routine screening only at age 50, due to what Gordon calls outdated federal health guidelines. She's also advocating for mammograms to be done annually, not every couple of years, especially for those women at greater risk of developing breast cancer: Ashkenazi women, and women with so-called "dense breasts".

Gordon joins The CJN Daily on International Women's Day to explain why changing these federal breast cancer screening guidelines will save lives.

What we talked about:

• Read more about the risk of dense breasts at densebreastscanada.ca
• Why Ashkenazi Jewish women (and men) are at higher risk of breast cancer_ _in The CJN

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.

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