Breast screening available to more Shropshire women

From Monday, in line with the national expansion of the programme, Shropshire Breast Screening is being extended to cover eligible women aged between 47 and 73, who are registered with a GP practice.

Currently women aged between 50 and 70 are screened every three years.

The aim of breast screening is to detect the cancer at an earlier stage, often before the woman is aware of any problem.

Early detection may mean simpler and more successful treatment.

This expansion will be phased in over the next six years.

Initially, approximately half of the women in each of the age groups 47 to 49 and 70 to 73 will be invited for screening.

All women aged between 50 and 70 will continue to be invited for screening every three years as normal and this will be extended to all women aged between 47 and 73 from 2017.

Randomising the phasing in of the age extension is a national initiative that will allow the net benefit of extending the age range for breast screening to be scientifically evaluated.

Researchers at Oxford University will be analysing the results on behalf of the NHS Breast Screening Programme.

Amanda Royle, lead superintendent radiographer for breast imaging at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: "The age extension brings benefits to women across the country, as it means they will be invited for screening before their 50th birthday and will get two extra screening invitations in their lifetime.

"It also means there is more chance of potential problems being detected earlier which means breast disease could be found at an earlier stage when it is easier to treat."

Any woman aged over 70 can request screening every three years, as now by contacting their local screening unit to make an appointment.

Similarly, women aged 47 to 49 who have not been invited as part of the randomisation process can still ask to be screened if their GP practice has been invited.

More information about breast screening and the age extension is available on the NHS Cancer Screening Programme's website at www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk