With this expansion of screening, 1,050,000 women are expected to be called annually for screening. The Ministry of Health is now reviewing and finalizing the protocol that already existed with the Portuguese League Against Cancer, which must include this expansion.
Women who turn 45 in 2025 will be invited throughout the year to undergo a mammogram, depending on the region where they live and the route of the city vans. announced the Ministry of Health.
At the beginning of December 2024, the published an update to the standard on population-based breast cancer screening, which was extended this year to women between 45 and 74 years old, when until now it was intended for women between 50 and 69 years old, complying with the recommendations of the European Union.
Taking stock of the situation regarding the expansion of screening, the Secretary of State for Health, Ana Povo, told the Lusa agency this Saturday that the conditions for its implementation on the ground are assured: “Everything is assembled and everything is ready.”
“In 38 local health units (ULS) breast cancer screening is provided by the Portuguese League Against Cancer [LPCC] which has vans with the equipment to perform mammograms and, therefore, as the vans pass by, women throughout the year 2025 will be called to undergo mammograms”, explained Ana Povo.
The Algarve is the only region in the country where breast cancer screening is not provided by the LPCC. The official said that the entity responsible for screening in this region is the Associação Oncológica do Algarve, adding that a protocol will be signed between the ULS of the Algarve and this association, which is already being mediated between these two institutions and the Executive Directorate of the SNS.
With this expansion of screening, 1,050,000 women are expected to be called annually for a mammogram.
“With this we intend to obtain significant gains in health through earlier detection of breast cancer and thus contribute to a reduction in mortality”, he highlighted.
The Ministry of Health is now reviewing and finalizing the protocol that already existed with the Portuguese League Against Cancer, which must include this expansion.
“The protocol has already been reviewed by the Central Administration of the Unified Health System (ACSS) and the SUS Executive Board and we already have a meeting scheduled in the coming weeks with the League so that we can sign the corrections to this protocol”, he said.
The DGS standard also introduces the replacement of the imaging technique with breast tomosynthesis, also called 3D mammography.
Therefore, it is also necessary to meet with the two entities responsible for carrying out the screening, “to gradually, throughout this and next year, replace the devices”, which implies an investment, which will need to be assessed “as will be done and taken care of.”
7,425 new cases diagnosed in 2020
In Portugal, in 2020, 7,425 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in women, of which 6,346 (78%) were 45 years old or over, 4,821 (65%) were between 45 and 74 years old and 1,525 (20%) were 75 or over years.
In 2021, there were 1,798 deaths, of which 828 (46%) were women between 45 and 74 years old and 1,671 (93%) were over 45 years old.
Population-based screening programs are associated with a reduction in the risk of death from breast cancer and the risk of diagnosis of advanced breast neoplasms in asymptomatic women aged between 50 and 69 years, says the DGS.
They are also associated with a reduced risk of death in asymptomatic women (aged 45 to 49), and may also be linked to a reduced risk of death in asymptomatic women aged 70 to 74.
According to the DGS, there is no scientific information about the benefits or risks of continuing these programs for people aged 74 or over.
