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Evidence of meeting #124 for Status of Women in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was evidence.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #124 for Status of Women in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was evidence.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Anna Roberts Conservative King—Vaughan, ON
I want to make a statement, and then my question is going to Cheryl.
It feels like the task force is mistaking women for ostriches. We don't stick our heads in the sand. We face challenges, and knowledge is power. Our health care system has taken the patient out of patient care and is more concerned about financial care. That's how I feel today, and I'm really disappointed because as women, I feel that we've been left out in the cold.
Cheryl, I need to ask you something, because I recently attended a fundraiser for ABC, which is an organization in Ontario called After Breast Cancer. I had the opportunity to speak with a young woman whose grandmother, mother and sister had breast cancer. She was in her late twenties, early thirties, and she was not eligible for a mammogram.
Was there a history in your family?
As an Individual
My grandmother had breast cancer and my aunt had breast cancer. I think some of my grandmother's sisters did as well.
Conservative
Anna Roberts Conservative King—Vaughan, ON
It's in the family. Okay.
Here's my thinking, and maybe I'm wrong: If there's a history—as in your case, in this young woman's case and in the case of some of my family members, whose family, every single person, had cancer—why are we even waiting until 40?
As an Individual
I don't understand why. As I said before, I'm an engineer, and we're thinking about things proactively. We're thinking about preventing things and planning ahead. I don't understand why there is so much “wait and see” in medicine. There's so much it: “Well, we'll catch it when it gets bad enough, and then we'll treat you.” It's backwards to the way I think about things and the way I would treat my car. I wouldn't wait until my car broke down to get an oil change .
As an Individual
I don't understand why it's acceptable. I can't understand why women's health isn't worthy of more prevention and early detection. That would make things a lot better for us.
Co-founder and Executive Director, Dense Breasts Canada
We know the incidence of breast cancer in women in their twenties and thirties is rising, but right now we don't have the technology or tools to detect cancer in women that young. The radiation from mammograms may be negligible around 40, but it can have an impact in the twenties and thirties. Also, the density of the breast is going to be high in the twenties and thirties, and mammograms probably wouldn't be that effective at all. Hopefully, we'll have a blood test soon or other methods of detection, but right now we don't have the means to detect. We have to rely on self-exams and body awareness.
Conservative
Anna Roberts Conservative King—Vaughan, ON
I'm sorry to interrupt there, Jennie, but I believe we do have a blood test.
Co-founder and Executive Director, Dense Breasts Canada
It's not ready for prime time yet.
Conservative
Anna Roberts Conservative King—Vaughan, ON
There's a history and a pattern here, and I think Cheryl said it best: You don't wait to get an oil change; you get it done before the car breaks down.
Co-founder and Executive Director, Dense Breasts Canada
Certainly, if a woman has a history of breast cancer in her family—a first-degree relative—she's going to be given some form of screening ultrasound or mammography, depending on her age, 10 years earlier. I think you're pointing out a really good thing in that a lot of women are falling through the cracks because they're not being assessed. A lot of family doctors don't know a patient's history; they're not doing a risk assessment. There's a tool that takes about two minutes to do called the IBIS tool. We need every family doctor in Canada using this risk assessment tool on women between ages 25 and 30 so we can determine who is high risk and who needs more screening with an MRI annually or whatever else.
Conservative
Anna Roberts Conservative King—Vaughan, ON
Maybe what we need to do is go back and provide doctors with the education and understanding they need to listen to patients. After listening to the ladies here, I find it very strange that.... You know your bodies better than any one of us. How many of us knew we were pregnant before we were pregnant? We know our bodies: “Hey, there's something inside of me growing.”
Conservative
Anna Roberts Conservative King—Vaughan, ON
I'm just trying to state a fact. We need to make sure that we educate doctors so they listen to us when we say, “Hey, I'm demanding a mammogram because this is what I have found.” We shouldn't have to do that. Are they not trained to listen to their patients? Maybe we need to go back to the drawing board and implement that in medical schools. What do you think?
Co-founder and Executive Director, Dense Breasts Canada
It's not that they are not listening to their patients—
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Shelby Kramp-Neuman
I'm sorry to interrupt.
If you could, just answer yes, no or maybe, because unfortunately we need to go on. Anna has exhausted her time.
Conservative
Conservative
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses for being with us.
My first question is for Ms. Dale.
Ms. Dale, we all know that dense breasts develop more cancer. Women with dense breasts have more chance of developing breast cancer than women with non-dense breasts.
What question can women ask during regular appointments with their health care providers to receive a referral for further screening? Most women with dense breasts don't know what to ask, as you said. Women aged 20 to 30 have more dense breasts, but what should they be looking for?