Women urged to keep potentially lifesaving breast screening date

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the team at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust’s breast unit has issued a timely reminder for patients to keep their screening appointment.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with the NHS offering free screening to women aged between 50-70 every three years.

Research shows that screening – used to find breast cancers at an early stage when they are too small to see or feel - saves on average one life from breast cancer for every 200 women who are screened.

That’s around 1,300 lives saved from breast cancer each year in the UK.

Amber Clarke is the Trust’s breast screening office manager, based at Peterborough City Hospital – which issues around 20,000 screening invitation letters each year.

She said: “Raising awareness of breast cancer – in women and men – is important, particularly during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We would urge anyone who has been invited to attend breast screening to keep their appointment.”

Trust statistics for 2021/2022:

• Invited for screening: 20,114.
• Attended for screening: 13,860.
• Normal results (routine recall): 13,420.
• Recalled for assessment (further investigation): 440.
• Cancers diagnosed: 100.

Around 55,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK – that’s one every 10 minutes – and around 400 new cases of breast cancer in men are recorded each year.

As well as on-site breast screening within a hospital setting, mobile screening vehicles also regularly visit Stamford and Rutland Hospital and many other venues within the local community.

To find out what you can expect at you appointment at the Trust, please visit Breast Unit | NW Anglia Website (nwangliaft.nhs.uk)

For more information on Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to find out ways to get involved – including the annual Wear It Pink event on Friday October 20 - visit Breast Cancer Awareness Month | Breast Cancer Now