Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer and second leading cause of cancer death among women and people assigned female at birth in Canada.
In 2022, an estimated 28,600 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 5,500 died from the disease. While survival rates have been steadily increasing over the past 20 years, more can be done to improve outcomes.
The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (the Task Force) announced in June 2023 that it was undertaking an expedited review of its 2018 breast cancer screening guideline, targeting late fall 2023 for publication of revised guidance. The goal is to ensure that the recommendations reflect the latest knowledge and evidence available to give patients the best possible chance of survival.
A Knowledge Exchange, hosted by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) over the past two days, brought together Canadian and international experts, partners, people with lived experiences, and stakeholders. Discussions focused on the current state of the science, including knowledge gaps and where future research efforts should be focused in breast cancer screening.
The information and knowledge exchanged during the event will help inform the Task Force's guideline update and support further collaboration between stakeholders. This builds on consultations with stakeholder organizations and other external experts at each stage of guideline development (protocol, systematic review, guideline), and online consultations with Canadians this past summer.
