Radiologists call on Quebec to expand access to 3D mammograms

Some radiologists are calling on Quebec to increase access to 3D mammograms, which experts say can detect more cancers and reduce the need for follow-up exams.

Annie Slight, an advocate for better and faster detection of breast cancer, supports this call.

"From the time I felt the small lump [in my breast], to the moment I received my diagnosis, it took 14 months,” says the Saint-Constant, Que. resident.

Slight was 40 years old when she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.

"A lot can happen with an aggressive cancer, especially since I was so young,"said Slight, who is now 54.

Although Slight is cancer-free today, she still wonders if an earlier diagnosis would have spared her some harm.

"Chemotherapy, bilateral mastectomy, reconstructive surgeries, hysterectomy — it was years of treatments and surgeries," she said.

To achieve faster screening, radiologist Dr. Grégoire Bernèche said Quebec should take advantage of 3D mammography.

"It's a much better technology [that] allows for a better cancer detection rate and reduces the number of false positive results," said Bernèche, who is the president of Quebec's association of radiologists, l’Association des Radiologistes du Québec.

He points out that the detection rate of breast cancer with 3D mammograms is 50 per cent higher than the one with 2D mammograms.

However, the 3D technology, also called tomosynthesis, costs more than standard mammograms.

A spokesperson with the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) says it's still awaiting results of an analysis on the topic.

"Performance indicators in the Quebec context will be studied, and a cost/effectiveness analysis of this technology is planned," the MSSS wrote in an email to CTV News.

"The ministry will reassess its position on the use of tomosynthesis for breast cancer screening in the light of this new analysis. The MSSS asked to continue their analysis, taking into account the data currently available on the use of tomosynthesis in Quebec.”

The ministry ordered the province’s public health agencies — the Institut national d'excellence en santé et services sociaux (INESSS) and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) — to conduct the analysis.

While 3D mammograms cost more, Bernèche believes it's an expense that pays off down the line.

"Studies demonstrate that there is good cost efficiency because the cancers that you see earlier are much more frequent," he said. "As a result, you reduce the more morbid treatments that are much more costly down the road."

As the province studies this question, Slight says it remains crucial to know the limitations of this technology.

"For women with dense breasts, it does not replace the need for supplemental screening such as ultrasound or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)," she said.

Still, 12 years after receiving her own breast cancer diagnosis, Slight says this push for advancements in the field brings some hope.