Canadian women overwhelmingly believe that the benefits of earlier breast cancer screening programs are far more important to them than the limited risks of false positive results, a new national public opinion survey shows.
The survey, conducted by Strategic Communications Inc. on behalf of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, sought views about breast cancer screening from 1,670 Canadian women.
According to a news release, breast cancer continues to be the most frequently diagnosed cancer among Canadian women.
Today, one in six women who die from breast cancer are diagnosed in their 40s. When women were provided information about the potential for "false positives" during screening and what the outcomes of those results could be, 87.5 per cent of respondents still felt the benefits of organized screening for women 40-49 were more important.
In fact, Canadian women appear to be more concerned about being thoroughly tested than the possibility of a false alarm.
The survey found that if offered the choice:
. A majority (63 per cent) of Canadian women would choose a screening test that "never misses cancer but 1-in-10 tests are false alarms."
. Only 20 per cent would choose a test that "misses 1-in-3 cancers but gives no false alarms."
British Columbia is among the six provinces or territories in which women 40-49 are eligible for organized programs.
Visit www.cbcf.org for more information.
