June 9, 2023 – Jean M. Seely MD, FRCPC, FSBI, FCAR
We are excited to share our CSBI update for the Society of Breast Imaging.
Welcome to Spring, where we say goodbye to the chilly days of winter and embrace the blooming season with excitement. There have been many exciting things happening at CSBI and we can’t wait to share them with you.
We successfully completed our 2023 ASM, we officially launched a 2023 membership + stakeholder survey, we shared a position statement on the new United States PreventiveServices Task Force (USPSTF) Breast Cancer Screening Draft Recommendations and so much more.
A huge thank you to our speakers and those that attended the 2023 CSBI ASM on April 1, 2023. The ASM was an overwhelming success, chiefly organized by Dr Supriya Kulkarni, with participants joining from every corner of the globe, including Canada, India, USA, Columbia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Iraq, Mexico and the UK. The recording is available to all CSBI members, here. The full day conference included the
morning plenary session on screening and early detection, including talks by keynote speaker Dr Laszlo Tabar with two outstanding lectures on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Helping Radiologists Detect Breast Cancers and Imaging Women with Dense Tissue – Description of the Problem and a Promising Solution, and by leading radiologists Drs. Mar, Seely, Kornecki, Shaheen, Kulkarni, El Khoury, Muradali, Seidler,
Solarzano, Hapgood and Lau on AI, abnormal recall rates, contrast enhanced mammography, radiologic- pathologic correlation of breast biopsy and MRI.
We are excited for our upcoming 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting which will be in collaboration with the SBI in-person meeting in Montreal in April 11-14, 2024. Be prepared for the excellent Montreal international feel with its welcoming hospitality, great food, and exceptional venues.
The 2023 CSBI Breast Arterial Calcifications (BAC) guidelines here were adopted in collaboration with the Canadian Society of Thoracic Radiology (CSTR) and based on a survey study published in the Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal. These guidelines were cited at the SBI meeting on May 7 by Dr Laurie Margolies during her talk “Breast Arterial Calcifications: Do They matter?” as a useful example of
how to alert clinicians and patients to signal the importance of cardiovascular disease when BAC is found. The CSBI guidelines were also spoken about in the recent SIFEM (Societe d’imagerie de la femme congres d’imagerie mammaire) on June 1-3, 2023 Women’s Imaging Society in France.
A huge thank you to Dr. Heather Martin for moderating CSBI’s First AI Virtual Journal Club talking about the use of AI in Breast Cancer Screening. The AI working group including the CSBI Resident leaders Drs Heather Martin and Isabelle Gauthier hosted an AI vendor showcase on June 20 th with 6 different AI vendors presenting the benefits of AI in breast imaging, accessible to CSBI members here.
After 5 years since the inception of the CSBI in September 2017, the Board of Directors approved a planning meeting for the CSBI to set the strategic priorities for the CSBI for the next 5 years. The meeting occurred in Vancouver on June 10, 2023 and will build on the success of the CSBI.
Hot off the press, June 8, 2023, the Canada’s Public Health Agency of Canada announced that the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care will examine new multiple types of evidence to update their 2018 breast cancer screening guideline. They will include data on trends in breast cancer cases and deaths due to breast cancer, modelling, including disaggregated data and screening outcomes. Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos announced added funding of 500,000$ to support an expedited guideline, previously slated for 2025. This is a culmination of previous research (Current Oncology) with Statistics Canada led by Drs Seely and Wilkinson showing that women 40-59 years old who lived in the Canadian provinces/territories whose screening programs did not include women in their 40s had significantly higher proportions of breast cancer diagnosed at stages 2 and 3 and stage 4 for women in their 40s. Additional research showed breast cancer mortality rates to be significantly higher in the women living in the same jurisdictions with reduced 10 year net survival (manuscript under review). Trends in Canada show significant increasing incidence of breast cancer in women in their 40s by 8% for 20 years (0.39% annualized percent change (APC)), even steeper increase since 2015 (1.6% APC). Increased treatment costs of breast cancer in the past 10 years may establish cost- effectiveness of early detection of breast cancer from screening, with the costs of early diagnosis of breast cancer exceeded by treatment of advanced stages of breast cancer at diagnosis. Resources needed by the healthcare system for treatments and physical and mental penalties borne by women with advanced stage breast cancers and their families are large. The emotional toll and workforce impact on radiologists and technologists who diagnose breast cancer and the healthcare professionals who treat it have created “skin in the game”; CSBI is strongly motivated to implement changes to improve early detection of breast cancer more equitably.
References:
Heaney RM, Zaki-Metias KM, McKee H, Wang H, Ogunde B, Yong-Hing CJ, Freitas V, Ghai S, Seely JM, Nguyen ET. Correlation Between Breast Arterial Calcifications and Higher Cardiovascular Risk: Awareness and Attitudes Amongst Canadian Radiologists Who Report Mammography. Can Assoc Radiol J. 2022 Dec 21:8465371221140347. doi: 10.1177/08465371221140347. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36541871.
Wilkinson AN, Billette J-M, Ellison LF, Killip MA, Islam N, Seely JM. The Impact of Organised Screening Programs on Breast Cancer Stage at Diagnosis for Canadian Women Aged 40–49 and 50–59. Current Oncology 2022; 29:5627-5643