Are you up to date with your mammogram?

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK. About 12,000 women die from breast cancer every year. But about 3 out of 4 women diagnosed with breast cancer are alive 10 years later.

Breast screening saves lives from breast cancer. Screening can detect cancers at an early stage when they are too small to see of feel.

In the UK, women between 50 and 70 are offered free breast screening every 3 years as the chance of getting breast cancer increases with age. About 4 out of 5 breast cancers are found in women over 50 years old.

There is a genetic link to breast cancer so you should be aware if you have family members with breast cancer but most women with breast cancer do not have a family history of the disease.

The screening procedure takes about 10 minutes and is slightly uncomfortable but it should not be painful. An X-ray called a mammogram is used to check the breasts for signs of cancer. Two images are taken of each breast – one from top to bottom and one from the side.

If you are over 70 you can still get breast cancer, so even though you will not automatically be sent screening appointments, you can keep these up every three years by asking for an appointment.

From 100 women who have breast screening, 96 will have a normal result. 4 women will need more tests. In 3, there will be no cancer. But 1 out of 100 will be diagnosed with cancer. Screening saves about 1 life from breast cancer every 200 women. This adds up to 1,300 lives saved every year in the UK. But also about 3 in every 200 women screened are diagnosed with a cancer that would never have been life threatening. This adds up to about 4000 women each year in the UK who are offered treatment they did not need. Research is underway to try to reduce this.

Are there any risks?

The main risk is that some women may be treated but they might never have developed breast cancer and this may cause them unnecessary stress. But it is impossible to predict who this would affect so it is advisable for everyone who has a positive screen to have further tests and maybe treatment. X-rays can rarely cause cancer. Mammograms do not find all cancers so it is important to keep checking your breasts.

How to reduce your risk of cancer

We have to look after our nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress.

Physical activity and weight management are key lifestyle choices that can significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer. Of all lifestyle factors, physical activity has the most robust effect on breast cancer outcomes. Women who are overweight or obese seem to have the lowest chances of survival. By contrast, women who exercise moderately (30 minutes of physical activity every day, 5 days a week or 75 weekly minutes of intense exercise) significantly reduce their risk of breast cancer recurrence and breast cancer death, according to the new study.

Smoking has a huge negative effect on all types of cancer.

Having a great network of friends has also been shown to improve outcomes.

If you have any concerns, go to see your doctor straight away.

Read More:

Global women – breast cancer; causes, diagnosis and treatment.

Breast Cancer.org

Most information in the piece was from the NHS breast screening leaflet.

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