Detecting breast cancer  

Breast cancer is the most common cancer for women with more than 22,000 cases diagnosed in Canada in 2002. Men can develop it too, but this is extremely rare.

Experts say that all women are at risk for breast cancer, and every woman's risk increases with age. Other risk factors for breast cancer include having very dense breasts on a mammogram, starting menstruation at an early age, starting menopause at a late age and giving birth after age 30 or having no children at all.

Knowing what your breasts look and feel like is key when trying to determine whether any changes have occurred. Early detection of abnormal lumps or changes in the appearance of your breasts is vital to breast cancer survival. Many women have survived breast cancer because it was detected and treated early.

Women with breast cancer don't often experience any signs or symptoms. However, things to watch for include a lump in the breast, nipple discharge, breast pain and a lump that doesn't go away with your period.

The Canadian Cancer Society suggests that you monitor changes in your breasts such as size and shape, inverted nipple, crusting, eczema-type symptoms on the nipple, a change to skin of the breast or a lump in the armpit.

If a lump or change in your breasts' appearance has been detected, your doctor will want to confirm a breast cancer diagnosis through further testing. To test breast tissue more accurately, a special X-ray called a diagnostic mammogram is usually performed. Other tests such as ultrasound, CT (computerized axial tomography) scan, MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) and bone scans are performed to test for other types of cancers in different parts of the body.

Your doctor will also suggest you undergo a biopsy to confirm whether there are cancerous cells in your breast tissue.

Breast cancer can happen to anyone, so don't ignore a lump or any changes in your breasts. It's important to have a mammogram every two years once you turn 50, and if you have a family history of breast cancer, start getting a mammogram 10 years earlier than the time of cancer diagnosis in your family member.

The Ontario Breast Screening Program is offered at 90 sites across the province. April is Cancer Awareness Month. For more information about cancer prevention, visit HealthyOntario.

The Ontario Government announced that it has appointed former Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory to review Ontario's medical audit system and make recommendations about its future design. The review will be completed within a year.

"Physicians have said for a number of years that the audit process needs to be easier, faster and more transparent. We have heard those concerns and we are acting by conducting a thorough, arms-length review of the audit system including the way the Medical Review Committee works,” said Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman. "We're determined to expedite the review so that we can identify and address any issues as quickly as possible.”

The purpose of the medical audit process is to ensure the accuracy of physicians' claims to OHIP. The Medical Review Committee (MRC) is an important part of that process. This independent body examines physicians' billings when there is a disagreement between the physician and the General Manager of OHIP about the accuracy of those claims. The MRC recommends actions to the government, which can include recovering fees that have been improperly billed.

Justice Peter Cory, who will head up the review, retired from the Supreme Court in 1999. He is a distinguished international jurist and was recently appointed the 11th Chancellor of York University. In 2002, he was appointed Commissioner by the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to investigate six controversial murder cases involving alleged collusion by security forces in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republican Army.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), and the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) have been working together over the last few years to improve the medical audit and MRC's processes and practices. They have made important improvements including tightening the timelines for the medical audit review process so that cases are resolved more quickly, and working to make the committee membership more representative. The government also changed regulations to reduce costs to doctors who go through the MRC process. The OMA and ministry are working together to better educate physicians about the OHIP billing process.

© Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2003  |  Privacy Policy  |  Disclaimers  |   Last Modified :