Dr Sandy Minck has advocated for Dense Breast Tissue women to be ADVISED at BreastScreen Level ....
After my surgery & radiation, I requested BreastScreen to 're-examine' my previously 'clear' scans - in hindsight of knowing the result ... and it resulted with them almost gleefully telling me that it was NOT breast cancer!! WRONG! Since then, I've had SPIRITED discussions with them, with them still refusing to advise their clients of their INCREASED RISK of a delayed diagnosis and the possibility of a more advanced cancer found 'later'!
Last night, Channel 9 news and a GP Dr Sandy Minck who's had a mastectomy (and who's mother passed away with breast cancer) posted that they want patients to be ADVISED of their breast density when they have routine Breast Cancer Screening - as it is a very real indication of the serious nature that Dense Breast Tissue has, in NOT identifying Breast Cancer ..... as, if not picked up EARLY ENOUGH, the diagnosis can result in a more serious diagnosis later on ... as 'white on white' does NOT show on the screen as a cancer.
An interview with Sandy Minck on the ABC is here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2023-05-18/breast-density-cancer-screening-explainer/102338008
BreastScreen in WA and South Australia both advise their clients of their breast density at the time of screening - why not all the other states?
The FDA in the US has recently mandated that women be notified by mammogram providers if they have dense breasts, giving them the opportunity to arrange supplemental testing.
But BreastScreen Australia’s 2020 position statement does not recommend the routine recording of breast density or the provision of supplemental testing for women with dense breasts.
A podcast about breast density ....
https://shows.acast.com/63184d1dee39db00126ae2d3/episodes/breast-density
Professor Vivienne Milch, the government’s medical advisor on screening policy, and Professor Bruce Mann, a breast surgeon and researcher, are two of our guests today in the Tea Room (podcast above)
They also talk to two patients about their experiences with breast density and cancer, who find the lack of notification baffling – and a little bit 1950s.
Dr Sandy Minck, a GP by training and a breast cancer survivor, said she was “dumbfounded” by the BSA position statement.
“As a consumer I'm outraged. As a health professional, I'm dumbfounded. I just don't understand it.”
Professor Milch says the program will conduct an evidence review on supplemental screening for women with dense breasts some time this year, although there is no guarantee of a policy change.
“We're aware of the growing momentum of advocacy and of also some women's desire to know their breast density,” Professor Milch says, adding that different states have different policies.
“We may or may not have a policy change. But we'll be looking at the evidence.”
Professor Bruce Mann, who works with the Roadmap to Optimising Screening in Australia (ROSA) project, says there is enough evidence to justify a change to BSA’s screening regimen.
“As women and the community becomes more informed, there is a danger that what is offered by BreastScreen will be seen as insufficient,” he said, which will lead to women opting out of BreastScreen and going private.
“What we don't want in this country is a two-tiered system where those who know and can get the best, do, and everyone else gets what's offered to them. That's what we are working to avoid.
“Western Australia has been telling women about their breast density for some time, and then there are pilots in some services in [Queensland and South Australia].
IF IT IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEM, WHY NOT IN THE OTHER STATES AS WELL?
