Health approves expanding breast cancer screenings to women aged 45 to 74

BarcelonaThe Public Health Commission —made up of the Ministry of Health and the autonomous health departments— approved this Wednesday the expansion of breast cancer screening to women between 45 and 74 years of age. Until now, screenings were aimed at women between 50 and 70 years of age. In this way, the age groups between 45 and 49 years and between 70 and 74 will now be added. However, the implementation will not be immediate: the communities will have up to six years to achieve near 100% coverage in the new age groups.

The expansion of screenings approved responds to the recommendations of the Network of Health Technology Assessment Agencies and the Council of the European Union, as well as to the available clinical evidence, which indicates that around 10% of breast cancers in Spain are diagnosed in women under 50 years of age.

The measure will require an investment of 534 million euros until 2029. However, the ministry assures that the real cost will be lower, because several communities have already begun the progressive incorporation of the new age groups. From now on, all communities will have up to three years to start modifying their program, and up to six to have near 100% coverage. The option of initially implementing a screening interval every three years is foreseen before definitively consolidating the biannual periodicity.

The new proposal maintains a screening periodicity of every two years for the entire new age range, as was already stipulated for women who previously fell within the control margin. Although the Public Health Commission gave the green light to the measure this Wednesday, some communities, such as Navarra, Castilla y León, La Rioja, and Castilla - la Mancha, had already incorporated the 45 to 49 year age range into their early detection programs for breast cancer in women. Furthermore, Galicia has already provided results for the 70 to 74 year age group.

Scientific evidence suggests that in this first bracket of 45 to 49 years, screening helps reduce mortality and facilitates the detection of tumors at earlier stages. Navarra's data demonstrates an average detection rate of 4.20% between 2022 and 2024, comparable to that observed in women aged 50 to 54. In the case of women aged 70 to 74, the information provided by Galicia indicates a detection rate of 8.7% in 2023, higher than that recorded in the 65 to 69 year age group.