Faculty members wins best poster at national cancer conference
The School of Nursing's (SON) Dr. Anne Kearney was pleasantly surprised when she won best poster at the 2016 Applied Research for Cancer Control Conference (ARCC) held this past spring in Toronto for her poster Population-based Mammography Screening is Not an Effective Breast Cancer Control Strategy.
It's a subject she has studied extensively and the SON faculty member has strong views about the practice based on her research findings.
Evidence no longer supports
"There were many posters at the conference," said Dr. Kearney. "I think I won not because of fancy graphics - because there were few of those - but because population-based mammography screening is a widespread initiative in Western countries that recent evidence no longer supports.
"I received great feedback during the conference about the need for more discussion regarding this important health issue," said Dr. Kearney who has presented her topic at several national conferences, and most recently at the Atlantic Regional Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (ARCASN) conference here in St. John's.
Dr. Kearney has studied the evidence related to all forms of breast screening (mammography, clinical breast examination, and breast self-examination) for the past 20 years and was actually one of a small group of individuals who started the organized breast screening program in the province.
Come full circle
"So I have come full circle on this," she said. "I want women, the general public and health professionals to know population-based breast screening – that is, for women at average risk, based on age alone – should be discontinued."
She also advises, contrary to recommendations of US and Canadian task forces for preventative health care that all women need to know how to examine their own breasts so they are able to detect changes that won't go away.
"This is a very difficult policy decision for policymakers and governments to take, but the time has come."
Dr. Kearney noted that Canadian governments have established organized breast-screening programs in ten provinces and two territories and actively strive to recruit and retain women in their programs.
"Recent evidence demonstrates the harms outweigh the benefits," she said, acknowledging that she's going against common practice on this issue. "There is no reliable evidence of mortality reduction but good evidence of harm in the form of false positive findings, over diagnosis, unnecessary treatment, risks related to radiation exposure, and significant psychological distress."
Dr. Kearney stated that until there is policy change, women must be informed in plain language, of all the potential harms and benefits of mammography screening so they are able to make an informed decision about whether or not to have screening.