Two things about BreastScreen NSW
1. Recent posts on the BreastScreen NSW Facebook page have criticised it for not assessing breast density, unlike BreastScreen WA and private screening clinics. Tumours can hide in dense breasts whi...
Forum Discussion
@arpie I agree it is morally and ethically wrong that BreastScreen NSW conceals vital health information from women. It is dereliction of duty, by both BreastScreen NSW and the reading radiologists.
The radiologists compromise themselves by agreeing to read scans at a standard that is inferior to BreastScreen WA, private clinics in Australia, and screening programs in overseas jurisdictions. Thirty-seven (37) states in the USA have legislated that women must be informed of their mammographic breast density, with other modalities recommended to obtain higher quality images of dense breasts. https://densebreast-info.org/
Dense breasts are common in women under 50 (about 50%), but 40% of women in their 50s have dense breasts and 25% of women in their 60s. BreastScreen NSW actively promotes screening from age 50 and 40% of their 50-60 year-old clients will have dense breasts. This is a sizeable subset of clients with dense breasts whom BreastScreen NSW is failing by not deploying the modalities that can generate better images and detect cancer at earlier stages. Their clients are unaware of the risks this poses to their health, prognosis, and treatment regimens when a detection is delayed because BreastScreen NSW 'doesn't do dense breasts' (as I was told by a staff member).
BreastScreen NSW's current marketing campaign includes the claim their 2D mammograms 'can find cancers as small as a grain of rice'. It is unrealistic that a tumour as small as a grain of rice would be detected in a dense breast under BreastScreen NSW's current substandard reading policies. The claim is misleading and creates a false sense of security.
The radiologists compromise themselves by agreeing to read scans at a standard that is inferior to BreastScreen WA, private clinics in Australia, and screening programs in overseas jurisdictions. Thirty-seven (37) states in the USA have legislated that women must be informed of their mammographic breast density, with other modalities recommended to obtain higher quality images of dense breasts. https://densebreast-info.org/
Dense breasts are common in women under 50 (about 50%), but 40% of women in their 50s have dense breasts and 25% of women in their 60s. BreastScreen NSW actively promotes screening from age 50 and 40% of their 50-60 year-old clients will have dense breasts. This is a sizeable subset of clients with dense breasts whom BreastScreen NSW is failing by not deploying the modalities that can generate better images and detect cancer at earlier stages. Their clients are unaware of the risks this poses to their health, prognosis, and treatment regimens when a detection is delayed because BreastScreen NSW 'doesn't do dense breasts' (as I was told by a staff member).
BreastScreen NSW's current marketing campaign includes the claim their 2D mammograms 'can find cancers as small as a grain of rice'. It is unrealistic that a tumour as small as a grain of rice would be detected in a dense breast under BreastScreen NSW's current substandard reading policies. The claim is misleading and creates a false sense of security.