Know Your Screening.
Know Your Risk.
Evidence-based screening recommendations from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care — updated to help you and your doctor make informed decisions based on your age, gender, and personal risk factors.
Patient Resource · October 14, 2024
Please check out the link below for updated screening recommendations based on your individual demographics, gender, age and risk factors, for many of the currently recommended screening tests:
Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care — Published Guidelines
https://canadiantaskforce.ca/guidelines/published-guidelines/Breast Cancer Screening Program
Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) is pleased to announce that beginning today, October 8, 2024, the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) is expanding to offer breast cancer screening for eligible people starting at age 40. One of the key benefits of this expansion is that people ages 40 to 49 who are eligible for screening in the OBSP no longer require a referral from a primary care provider for breast cancer screening.
Your age and family medical history help determine when you should get screened:
-
If you are age 40 to 49, the Ontario Breast Screening Program encourages you to talk with your family doctor, your nurse practitioner or a Health811 navigator to make an informed decision about whether breast cancer screening is right for you. Most people in your age group who decide to get screened for breast cancer should get screened with mammography every 2 years.
-
If you are age 50 to 74, the Ontario Breast Screening Program recommends that most people in your age group get screened every 2 years with mammography.
-
If you are age 30 to 69 and meet any of the following requirements, talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner about referral to the High Risk Ontario Breast Screening Program:
-
You are known to have a gene mutation that increases your risk for breast cancer (e.g., BRCA1, BRCA2, TP53, PALB2).
-
You are a first-degree relative (parent, sibling, or child) of someone who has a gene mutation that increases their risk for breast cancer (e.g., BRCA1, BRCA2, TP53, PALB2).
-
You have a personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer.
-
You have had radiation therapy to the chest to treat another cancer or condition (e.g., Hodgkin lymphoma) before age 30 and at least 8 years ago.
-
The Ontario Breast Screening Program offers breast cancer screening to women, Two-Spirit people, trans people and nonbinary people ages 40 to 74 if they:
-
have no new breast cancer symptoms
-
have no personal history of breast cancer
-
have not had a mastectomy
-
have not had a screening mammogram within the last 11 months
-
If transfeminine, have used feminizing hormones for at least 5 years in a row
For more information about women's health services, visit the Women's Health page.
How to Book Your Screening Mammogram
To book your screening mammogram, you can call any Ontario Breast Screening centre, or the Diagnostic Imaging Facility in our Medical building directly.
No referral or requisition is required from me!
I will personally call you back once I receive your report, and you will also receive a letter from the OBSP with your results and recommendations.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the numbers in the embedded links in this email or call my office at 905-773-7759 to book an appointment with me either in person or by phone.
Michael Varenbut MD, CCFP, FCFP
Questions About Your Screening?
Dr. Varenbut is available to discuss your screening options and personal risk factors. Call the office to book an appointment — in person or by phone.