Breast Screening

Breast screening

Breast screening (mammography) is an x-ray examination of the breasts. It may help to detect breast cancer before there are any signs or symptoms. The sooner breast cancer is diagnosed the more effective treatment may be.
Going for screening

In the UK, women between 50 and 70 (64 in Northern Ireland) are invited for breast screening every three years as part of the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP). This age range is due to be extended to 47 to 73 in the near future.

Women under 50 are not invited for routine breast screening. This is because in younger women the density of the breast tissue makes it more difficult to interpret the mammogram (breast x-ray) and detect problems. Also, the incidence of breast cancer is much lower in this age group – 80 per cent of breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50 and the risk continues to increase with age.

To be invited for screening you have to be registered with a GP. Your name will be taken from your GP’s list and you’ll be sent an appointment from the screening service to come for a mammogram. This may not happen the year you turn 50 but it will happen by the time you are 53.

If you’re over 70 you won’t be sent an appointment for screening. However, you’re still entitled to breast screening every three years if you ask for it. You can contact your local breast screening unit by calling NHS Direct on 0845 4647 (or NHS 24 on 08454 242424 in Scotland). Or ask your GP or practice nurse to arrange an appointment for you.

The results of your screening mammogram are sent by post to you and your GP. Some women will be sent a recall letter asking them to come back. It will explain if another mammogram is needed because of technical reasons (if the image is unclear), or if further tests are needed to assess a problem seen on the mammogram. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be breast cancer, but further tests are needed to find out what it is.

Going for breast screening will not prevent breast cancer from occurring. It’s important to continue to be breast aware and report any changes to your GP even if you’ve had a mammogram recently, as breast cancer can develop in between screening mammograms.
Limitations of routine screening

Mammography is the most reliable way of detecting breast cancer early, but like other screening tests it is not perfect. For example, not all breast cancers can be seen on mammogram, some breast cancers are very difficult to see, or very occasionally the doctors reading the mammogram may miss the cancer, no matter how experienced they are.
Concerns about screening

Certain conditions diagnosed through screening may never develop further or may grow so slowly that they would never cause harm during a woman’s life. However, it is currently recommended that they are all treated, because it is not possible to determine how they will develop in the future. Some doctors think that this can result in unnecessary treatment and anxiety.