麻豆传媒

A B.C. woman has launched a petition to make the disclosure of breast density mandatory after she was diagnosed with stage three 3 cancer.

Elizabeth Astbury, 46, says she began getting regular mammograms in 2010.

鈥淚 got letters back saying everything鈥檚 OK,鈥� Astbury told 麻豆传媒.

That鈥檚 why she was surprised when she discovered an eight-centimetre lump in her breast last April.

鈥淚 was shocked, devastated,鈥� she said.

What she didn鈥檛 know at the time is that dense breast tissue, which has relatively less fat, can interfere with mammogram accuracy.

鈥淚n women between the ages of 40 and 49, mammograms can miss cancers because those are women who are more likely to have dense breasts,鈥� said Astbury.

That鈥檚 why there鈥檚 been a growing push across the United States for the disclosure of breast density.

Breast cancer survivor Nancy Cappello is the founder of the U.S.-based 鈥淎re you dense鈥� advocacy group, which helped push for the passage of legislation across 14 states requiring radiologists to disclose patients鈥� breast density.

鈥淚t is about informed consent,鈥� she told 麻豆传媒. 鈥淗ow can we make an informed decision about something we have no information about?鈥�

In Canada, however, similar legislation has been sitting before the Senate for two years.

While physicians argue that disclosure of breast density could lead to unnecessary tests and fear, others say mammography is still useful in women with dense breasts.

鈥淚n my view, at the very least, if a woman knows she has dense breast tissue, maybe it would encourage her to pay more attention to her breast self-examination,鈥� Dr. Paula Gordon told 麻豆传媒.

Meanwhile, Astbury is pushing for B.C. to provide women with access to the information she didn鈥檛 have.

鈥淚f I am successful with this petition, I hope to see there become a formal requirement in British Columbia that following a screening mammogram, a woman is informed if she has dense breasts,鈥� she writes on .

With files from 麻豆传媒鈥� Melanie Nagy and CTV Vancouver鈥檚 Mi-Jung Lee