Charity calls for younger at-risk women to be offered breast cancer screening

Charity Breast Cancer Now have called for younger women with a family history of breast cancer to receive annual screenings to help in earlier diagnosis of the disease.

NHS screening for breast cancer usually begins at the age of 40 for at-risk women. However, he charity recently funded a study which showed that different forms of the disease were diagnosed earlier when at-risk patients aged between 35 and 39 received annual mammograms.

The study which was undertaken by researchers at the University of Manchester, offered scans to just under 3,000 women in the younger age group who had a moderate to high risk of developing the disease. The screening diagnosed 35 invasive tumours, the majority of which were small and detected before reaching the lymph nodes, meaning that they had not spread around the body.

Lead author of the study Professor Gareth Evans, said the study showed that yearly scans were effective in diagnosing tumours earlier for this age group.

He went on to say “For women with a family history, removing a non-invasive tumour so early in their lives is likely to be a cancer preventative.”

Chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, Baroness Delyth Morgan, said “We’ve long known that a family history can define a woman’s risk, and that breast cancer can be more aggressive in younger women.

“So if we can intervene earlier for those at higher risk through annual screening, we believe we may be able to stop the disease cutting so many women’s lives so heartbreakingly short.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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