Cancer Prevention & Screening Information for Healthcare Providers

Background Information:

Shared Health Diagnostic Services, Dynacare and CancerCare Manitoba are introducing HPV reflex testing to Manitoba. The new process is called HPV reflex testing (also known as HPV triage). HPV reflex testing is used to detect high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) on certain Pap tests to determine which patients require colposcopy versus those who can return to routine screening.  

Clinical Practice Change:

Effective March 14, 2022 cervical cytology labs in Manitoba will automatically perform high-risk human papillomavirus testing on the Pap test specimens of patients:

• 30 years of age and older with Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance (ASCUS) Pap test results, or
• 50 years of age and older with Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion (LSIL) Pap test results.

Providers will receive one cervical cancer screening lab report with both the cytological interpretation and the
high-risk HPV test result.

• Patients with hrHPV POSITIVE test results should be referred to colposcopy.
• Patients with hrHPV NEGATIVE test results should return to routine screening with Pap tests.
• Patients with hrHPV INVALID test results should have a repeat Pap test in six months.

Clinical Practice Change (pdf) 

As of January 2021, BreastCheck will include the mammogram result, breast density category using BI-RADS, and breast cancer risk reduction information in result letters to patients and their healthcare providers.

Review BreastCheck Results: Patient Discussion Guide (pdf), Talking To Your Patients About Breast Density and Breast Cancer Risk (webinar)

CancerCare Manitoba Prevention & Screening is recruiting interested, enthusiastic health promotion champions in primary care to participate on an advisory committee. The purpose of the committee is to facilitate ongoing reciprocal communication between healthcare providers and CancerCare Manitoba Prevention & Screening in order to generate feedback and input into projects, resources and activities. To learn more, click here.