Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Its incidence increases with increasing age. Breast screening reduces deaths from breast cancer.
What is breast screening?
Breast screening uses X-rays to look for breast cancers when they are too small to be seen or felt.The X-rays are called mammograms.
Who is offered breast screening and how often?
We currently invite all women between 40 and 70 years old for breast screening. We offer breast screening every year. We do not recommend regular screening for women over 70. For this age group, we recommend screening every three years.
What are the benefits of breast screening?
Regular screening prevents deaths from breast cancer. Screening can find cancer early, before it’s clinically apparent. The earlier breast cancer is detected, the better the chances of surviving it. If a breast cancer is found early, one is less likely to have a mastectomy or chemotherapy.
Does breast screening find every cancer?
No. Some cancers don’t show up on a mammogram and sometimes a cancer isn’t spotted. This can happen no matter how skilled the people reading the mammograms are.
Does screening prevent breast cancer? No. Screening only finds cancer if it is already there, but it can find cancers at an early stage.
What are the downsides of being screened?
Having a mammogram means your breasts are exposed to a small amount of radiation.
• Sometimes a mammogram will look normal, even if a cancer is there. This is called a false negative result.
• Sometimes a mammogram will not look normal and the lady will be recalled for more tests, but cancer is not there. This is called a false positive result.
• Screening can find cancers which are treated but which may not otherwise have been found during the woman’s lifetime.
•The lady undergoing screening may be anxious or worried. This usually only lasts for a short time.
Where does one go for breast screening?
Breast screening usually happens at a local clinic, hospital or mobile screening unit
What happens during breast screening?
The woman will only be asked to undress from the waist up. Talcum powder and anti perspirants should not be used when undergoing screening. The person who takes mammograms will ask a few questions and will explain what will happen. She/he will place one breast at a time between two special plates on the mammogram machine and take two pictures of each breast. The breast needs to be pressed firmly between the plates for a few seconds so that clear mammograms can be taken. A mammogram takes a few minutes. A routine breast screening visit should take abouthalf an hour altogether.
Does having a mammogram hurt? Most women find having a mammogram uncomfortable. Some women find it painful, but only for a few seconds. Very few women find the pain lasts longer than this.
When does one get the results?
The mammograms are usually read and reported the same day
What mammogram results might one get?
Most women get a normal screening result (their mammogram shows no sign of cancer). However, this doesn’t mean one can’t get breast cancer, so one should still be breast aware. Around one in 20 women are called back because their mammograms show that more tests are needed. This happens more often for women having their first mammograms. This is normally because we do not have other mammograms to compare with. Something that looks unusual on ones first mammograms may be completely normal. We may do further tests, including more mammograms, an ultrasound scan or a needle biopsy. A needle biopsy is when we take a small sample of tissue (we may use a local anaesthetic to do this). We do these tests to show whether or not you have breast cancer
What if one is told she has breast cancer?
The person will be cared for by a specialist breast cancer team. We will counsel the person about her diagnosis, the support she can get and her treatment options. Most, but not all, cancers found at breast screening can be successfully treated.
What happens to the mammograms after screening?
We use digital mammography. We look at mammograms on a computer screen and save them as a computer file. We regularly review our screening records to make sure we offer you a good service. Staff in other parts of the health service may need to see your records for this. Our screening programme regularly audits (checks) screening results and follow ups
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