Breast cancer screening programme a success

Published on Tuesday 26 July 2011 13:32

Almost 1,400 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed through screening in Scotland in 2009/10, figures show.

More than 80 per cent of cancers discovered were the most serious invasive type of the disease, and half of these were so small they were unlikely to have been detected without screening.

The figures also showed that the percentage of women who attended for screening remained at about 75 per cent, although it varied between boards, with the lowest at 71 per cent in Glasgow.

Concerns were also raised that fewer women in deprived areas attended screening clinics.

In 2008-09 two-thirds of the most deprived women (65.6 per cent) aged 50-70 attended breast screening, compared with three-quarters in Scotland overall.

Audrey Birt, director for Scotland at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity, urged the Scottish Government and NHS to address the shortfall.

She said: "It is vital we understand why many women in deprived areas do not attend breast screening, and learn from research about how best to engage them. Only then can we take the appropriate measures to increase screening uptake."

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "More and more people are living with and beating cancer, and the Scottish breast screening programme is one of the principal reasons why.

"The breast screening programme allows for the very early detection of small cancers which would be unlikely to be detected by palpation, leading to better survival rates."