Health, Safety and Environment
Reducing the Age of Breast Cancer Screening (Conference 2005, Motion 87)
26 October 2006
Motion 87 (2005) called for the Union to
campaign for a reduction in the age of free breast cancer screening from age 50
to cover all females over the age of puberty and men at risk. The Motion was
subsequently raised with ministers, MPs, the TUC and a number of Cancer
Charities to gauge support for our campaign.
The responses are broadly as follows:
"Cancer Research UK recognises that breast screening is an important one and has conducted extensive research in this area examining the benefits and disadvantages of changing the screening age. A recent report by the United Kingdom Coordinating Committee on Cancer Research (UKCCCR), supported by the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK and the Department of Health, found little evidence in support of an extension of breast cancer screening. Aside from the extremely high costs of a more extensive screening programme, research shows that mammography is less effective in younger women, because their breast tissue is more dense and therefore harder to differentiate from tumours. This leads to a much higher chance of false diagnoses of breast cancer, causing unnecessary distress to large numbers of healthy women. Furthermore, mammograms expose women to small but unavoidable doses of radiation as part of the imaging process – as radiation is a recognised cause of cancer, we do not feel that the benefits of early screening outweigh the risks of exposure."
It was accepted that breast cancer is neither age nor gender discriminatory, but it is much more common in older women – over 80% of breast cancers occur in women above the age of 50. Breast screening is therefore directed towards this demographic group. Mammograms are currently available outside this age range to any women or men who are referred by their GP and if patients are concerned about a family history of breast cancer they can request to be screened from an earlier age, in accordance with 2004 National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
Cancer Research UK is currently involved in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Breast Screening (MARIBS) trial, looking into using MRI scanning rather than mammography in circumstances of high genetic risk. This may have an effect on the breast screening programme in the longer term – for now, the trials are ongoing. Whilst they recognise that this issue is one that touches many people, they believe that given the efficacy of current technology and cost constraints on the NHS, Cancer Research UK the present system is the best available.