Digital illustration symbolizing equitable access to personalized breast cancer screening.

Personalized Breast Cancer Screening: Is it Fair for All?

Beau Callahan in Health & Wellness December 2025 • 4 min read.

"New research examines how personalized screening might widen the gap for underserved women. Find out what steps can help close it."

Breast cancer screening has long relied on a one-size-fits-all approach. However, personalized screening, which tailors mammography based on an individual's risk factors, is emerging as a promising way to improve detection and outcomes. But, this new approach raises a critical question: will it benefit all women equally, or could it exacerbate existing disparities in healthcare?

A recent study published in New Genetics and Society dives into this issue, exploring the challenges of implementing personalized breast cancer screening in a way that ensures equity. The researchers focused on the province of Québec, Canada, interviewing stakeholders involved in the region's breast cancer screening program to identify potential barriers and facilitators.

The findings highlight how personalized screening could unintentionally reproduce existing social inequalities and amplify regional disparities in access to services. However, the study also offers valuable insights into strategies that could promote a more equitable approach, ensuring that all women, regardless of their background or location, benefit from advances in breast cancer screening.

The Equity Challenge: How Personalized Screening Could Widen the Gap

Digital illustration symbolizing equitable access to personalized breast cancer screening.

The study in New Genetics and Society pinpointed key areas where personalized breast cancer screening could inadvertently disadvantage certain groups of women:

The main areas the stakeholders interviewed raised concerns about the potential for the program to reproduce social inequalities across 3 stages:

Solicitation of Women: Current methods may not effectively reach women with language barriers, lower literacy levels, or who belong to ethnic minorities. The complexity of personalized screening could worsen this issue.
Informed Consent: Discussing genomics and individual risk can be challenging. Those with lower education levels or limited understanding of medical concepts may struggle to make informed decisions.
Return of Results: Complex results and insufficient health literacy could hinder comprehension, leading to inequitable outcomes.

The report highlights the barriers and facilitators identified by respondents fall into two themes: "Reproduction of social inequities" and "Amplification of regional disparities in access to services."

Solutions for a Fairer Approach

The researchers emphasize that addressing these challenges requires a multi-pronged approach. This includes:

The stakeholders emphasize the needs for effective communication strategies, tailoring information to different cultural groups and literacy levels, and using a variety of methods to invite women to screening. The strategy includes working with community health leaders and women from diverse backgrounds in developing communication tools.

Teleconferencing and remote support, using tools like video conferencing and text messaging to overcome geographical barriers and improve access to specialists also ensures the fairness. They also emphasizes that healthcare system must also protect patient confidentiality when using electronic communication.

About this Article -

This article was crafted using a human-AI hybrid and collaborative approach. AI assisted our team with initial drafting, research insights, identifying key questions, and image generation. Our human editors guided topic selection, defined the angle, structured the content, ensured factual accuracy and relevance, refined the tone, and conducted thorough editing to deliver helpful, high-quality information.See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1080/14636778.2018.1549477, Alternate LINK

Title: Organizational Challenges To Equity In The Delivery Of Services Within A New Personalized Risk-Based Approach To Breast Cancer Screening

Subject: Health Policy

Journal: New Genetics and Society

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Authors: Emmanuelle Lévesque, Julie Hagan, Bartha M. Knoppers, Jacques Simard

Published: 2018-11-27

Everything You Need To Know

What exactly is meant by personalized breast cancer screening?

Personalized breast cancer screening is an approach that tailors mammography recommendations based on an individual's specific risk factors. This contrasts with the traditional one-size-fits-all approach. The goal is to improve early detection and ultimately lead to better outcomes by providing screening that is more aligned with a woman's individual risk profile. This may involve varying the age at which screening begins, the frequency of screenings, or the type of screening used.

According to the study in New Genetics and Society, how might personalized breast cancer screening worsen inequalities?

A study in *New Genetics and Society* suggests that the implementation of personalized breast cancer screening could unintentionally exacerbate existing inequalities in healthcare. This is because current methods for solicitation of women may not effectively reach women with language barriers, lower literacy levels, or those from ethnic minorities. The complexity of personalized screening may worsen this issue, leading to unequal access and outcomes.

What specific stages in the screening process could create challenges?

The study identifies potential problems at three key stages: Solicitation of Women, Informed Consent, and Return of Results. If these stages aren't carefully managed, personalized screening could widen existing disparities. For instance, women with lower education levels or limited understanding of medical concepts may struggle with informed consent, and complex results combined with insufficient health literacy could hinder comprehension during the return of results, leading to inequitable outcomes.

What are some solutions to ensure a fairer approach to personalized breast cancer screening?

To promote equity, strategies should focus on improving communication and access for underserved groups. Methods suggested include culturally sensitive outreach programs to ensure all women are aware of and can access personalized screening, and the use of clear, easy-to-understand language when obtaining informed consent and explaining results. Addressing regional disparities in access to services and resources is also essential.

What are the broad implications if personalized breast cancer screening isn't implemented equitably?

The findings underscore the importance of proactive measures to prevent personalized breast cancer screening from worsening existing health disparities. Without careful implementation, advanced screening methods may only benefit those already well-served by the healthcare system, leaving vulnerable populations further behind. This also highlights the need for ongoing monitoring and evaluation to ensure that personalized screening programs are indeed benefiting all women equitably, regardless of their background or location, in line with studies done in *New Genetics and Society*.