Australian women denied knowledge of their increased breast cancer risk
Approximately 10% of women have high breast density. At this point in time, thousands of Australian women are being denied important information about their breast health which could empower them to better understand and manage their risk of breast cancer. BCNA’s Director of Policy, Advocacy and Support Services, Vicki Durston, says Australia’s approach to population-based screening is not keeping pace with growing evidence that supports routine reporting of breast density. This due to the absence of national reporting standards and a lack of software in publicly funded screening services that can effectively measure breast density. “Every woman has the right to know and understand her breast cancer risk through standardised breast density reporting,” she says. “For those identified as high-risk or with high breast density, it is essential that clear options and pathways are available to support early detection and proactive risk management.” Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) is currently advocating for a unified national approach to reporting breast density through Australia's national population-based breast screening program – BreastScreen. Mammography images showing the difference between spotting cancer in a fatty breast (top) vs dense breast (bottom). It's like "spotting a snowman in a snow storm". You can read BCNA's media release via the link Australian women denied knowledge of their increased breast cancer risk Read ABC's feature piece on our advocacy efforts: Mandatory breast density reporting557ViewsSign in to react to this post19Comments
Breast density - we want your input
Hi everyone BCNA is currently reviewing the webpage we developed last year around breast density to ensure we are keeping our members up to date with the latest research finding around breast density. There are two key issues we are concentrating on: · the concern that breast density may make it hard for doctors to detect breast cancer on screening mammograms and · that women may be unaware that breast density may increase their risk of developing breast cancer We want women to be able to make informed choices that are right for them and this means being advised if their mammogram shows they have dense breasts. We are aware however that there are complicated issues that have not yet been resolved by experts that may cause confusion for women. This includes lack of agreement around what advice doctors should give women around the best way to use information around breast density to aid early detection and prevention of breast cancer. Whilst we wait for development of clinical guidelines to guide the right and consistent advice women receive, BCNA is calling on your help to assist us develop a new webpage around breast density. This will help ensure we are keeping our members as up to date as possible and also help individual women found to have dense breasts formulate questions to ask their doctors around what this means to their individual risk. If you are available to assist in this review please contact me at [email protected] I would love to hear from you Best wishes Danielle1.6KViewsSign in to react to this post47Comments
Have your say - Survey on BreastScreen Australia’s Position Statement on Breast Density
Hi all, The Australian Department of Health is considering whether BreastScreen Australia’s Position Statement on Breast Density needs to be changed. The Department has commissioned Allen + Clarke, a consulting company, to undertake a short, online survey to get the views of researchers, clinicians and women who use BreastScreen services. Currently, women who participate in BreastScreen are NOT routinely told about their breast density. The exception is the WA BreastScreen Program, which sends a letter to the woman and her GP if the woman is assessed as having very dense breasts. It can be harder to detect cancers on mammograms of women with very dense breasts as breast density can hide or 'mask' breast cancers. Research has shown that having very dense breasts is also a risk factor for breast cancer. This survey is an important chance to share your views about whether or not BreastScreen Australia should talk to women about breast density. While more scientific research is needed to help health professionals understand how women with very dense breasts can best be screened and/or manage their breast cancer risk, many women argue that they want to be told. The survey will close on 27 June 2018. Your responses are anonymous. Tips on taking the survey Some of the survey questions have been written in a complicated way. We have developed the following tips to help you have your say. Please read BreastScreen Australia’s Position Statement on Breast Density before you take the survey. The survey asks if you have read the Statement and you cannot proceed with the survey if you answer ‘no’. If it's easier, you can read a summary of the Position Statement on the Information Forum on Mammographic Density (INFORMD) website. Please read BCNA’s webpage about breast density before you take the survey. BCNA member Kate has shared her story about breast density, which you can read here. Question 6 of the survey asks what ‘evidence-based’ changes you would like to see to the position statement and asks you to provide ‘citations’ (e.g. journal articles). Please don't be put off by the language in this question. BCNA has provided feedback to Allen + Clarke that women’s views are important and should not need to be ‘evidence-based’. We encourage you to share your views about breast density in the open-text boxes at either question 6 or question 7 and not to be concerned with the way question 6 has been asked. You can skip questions (i.e. leave them blank), but please make sure that you click through to the end of the survey and click ‘submit. How to participate? You can take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BSApositionstatementonbreastdensity. Please also don’t hesitate to email the BCNA Policy Team on [email protected] if you have…1.1KViewsSign in to react to this post19Comments
Survey RE breast density.
A chance to have your say RE Breasstscreens statement on breast density. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BSApositionstatementonbreastdensity97ViewsSign in to react to this post0Comments
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