Seven In Every 10 Women Invited Chose To Attend For Breast Cancer Screening In Wales.
A new annual report from Public Health Wales’s Screening Division shows that in 2015-16, seven in 10 women chose to attend for routine breast cancer screening.
Between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016, more than 144,000 women aged 50-70 were invited for screening and the uptake of screening across Wales was 70.9 percent, compared to 72.1 percent in 2014-15.
A total of 1166 cancers were detected in screened women aged 49 and over. Of the 1166 cancers detected, 80.8 percent were invasive lesions with 52.9 percent of these invasive cancers classified as small (less than 1.5cm in size).
An invasive cancer is one which has spread into surrounding, healthy breast tissue.
Dr Rosemary Fox, Director of Screening at Public Health Wales, said: “We are really pleased that more than seven in every 10 women have chosen to take up their invitation for screening, but this still leaves three in 10 women who are not seeing the benefits of the breast screening programme.
“Breast screening reduces the risk of dying from breast cancer by finding cancers when they are too small to see or feel. Finding and treating cancer early gives you the best chance of survival. I would urge women not to ignore their screening invitation, it could save their life”
Women aged 50 to 70 are invited for a breast x-ray ever three years.
Breast screening is a free NHS test that is carried out at screening centres and accessible mobile units across Wales.
Women who attend for screening have an x-ray known as a mammogram. If there are any abnormalities observed on the mammogram, the woman is invited to an assessment clinic for further tests.
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