Demand that the provincial government act now to improve breast cancer screening and save lives.
Breast cancer screening in our province is failing far too many women. Mammograms alone are not enough for women with dense breasts.
Nearly half of the women who have mammograms have dense breasts. Dense breasts are normal and common, but carry two significant risks: they increase the risk of cancer, and they make it harder to see cancer on a mammogram. Cancer and dense tissue appear white on a mammogram, creating a masking effect. Cancers missed on mammograms continue to grow.
The result? Too many cancers are not found until they are advanced, when treatment is harsher, costlier, and less likely to save lives.
But there is a solution. Robust research from around the world shows that adding supplemental screening—ultrasound, MRI, or contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM)—dramatically improves cancer detection in women with dense breasts. The science is clear: when cancer is found early, survival rates rise dramatically.
Currently, women in our province are told if they have dense breasts and are at higher risk, yet they are denied access to the very screening that could potentially save their lives.
Offering additional screening is not only about saving lives—it’s about using healthcare dollars wisely.
- Treating Stage 1 breast cancer costs on average about $39,000.
- Treating Stage 4 breast cancer costs on average about $370,000.
Demand the government take action:
- Fund ultrasound, MRI, and CEM screening for women with dense breasts.
- Invest in equipment, trained staff, and capacity—so women are not left waiting or turned away.
- Give women and their healthcare providers clear information about the risks of dense breasts and benefits of additional screening.
Every day of inaction means more missed cancers, more late-stage diagnoses, and more lives lost. These are our mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, coworkers, and friends.
It’s time to stop failing women with dense breasts. They deserve the same chance at early detection as every other woman in our province.
Tell your provincial politicians to act now. Please add your name to the letter below/beside and then click Add Your Voice. Please consider sharing the link too. Thank you!
