Breast screening at age 40 not routinely advised, Canadian task force says [Video]

People should be able to get a mammogram starting at age 40 but it shouldn’t be routinely offered to women under 50 who are of average risk, new Canadian screening guidelines suggest.

The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care is an organization created by the federal government to develop clinical practice guidelines in areas like cancer to guide family physicians and their patients. The members include family doctors, nurse practitioners as well as cancer specialists and patient partners.

The task force “does not recommend regular screenings for women under 50 who are of average risk,” a spokesperson said in an email to CBC News on Thursday. “However, the task force believes breast cancer screening is a personal choice, and that any woman who wants a screening should be able to get one.”

The task force said if someone of average risk age 40 and over understands the benefits and harms of early screening and wants to have …