• who is screened?
  • should you be screened?
  • making an appointment
  • when you need more tests
  • do you have symptoms?
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Should you be screened?

To help you decide whether or not to come for breast screening, we have outlined the main benefits and drawbacks of screening for breast cancer below.

  • Breast screening reduces the risk of dying from breast cancer.
  • Screening will miss some breast cancers.
  • Most breast cancers found at screening are at an early stage when there is a good chance of successful treatment.
  • We cannot cure all breast cancers found at screening.
  • We call women back for more tests if we are not sure about what their mammograms show. If you are called back, it can be worrying. However, we find that many of these women do not have cancer.
  • We detect over 700 cancers each year.
  • Some women find mammograms uncomfortable or painful, but normally just for a brief time.
  • As a woman gets older her risk of breast cancer increases. Women over 70 are at higher risk than the age range routinely invited.

For more on the risks and benefits of screening see pages 28 to 31 of our 2003 Director’s Report.

Is there a risk from radiation?

We use mammography to detect breast cancer. This involves passing radiation (X-rays) through your breast to form a picture (mammogram). Radiation can cause cancer, but the risk from mammography is very low. The benefit far outweighs the radiation risk. The number of lives saved by detecting and treating breast cancer is much greater than the number of lives that may be lost because of cancer caused by radiation. [read more about the radiation risk from mammography]