Title: Breast Screening - Jane Hooper
Description: This podcast discusses the process of breast screening and the pros
and cons involved for a patient that is considering the process.
Transcript:
Screening is a way of detecting cancer at an early stage, allowing earlier treatment
and a better outcome. In the U.K., women between the ages of 50 and 70 are invited
to be routinely screened every 3 years. Screening involves a mammogram that is an
x-ray of the breast, and this can detect changes, which may indicate the presence of
cancers too small to be detected by breast examination. A mammogram involves
compression of the breasts, which some women find uncomfortable but few find it
painful. This programme saves an estimated 5.7 lives saved for every 1000 women
screened.
Some women have a higher risk of breast cancer due to several relatives who have
had breast cancer or have been identified as having a gene change which increases
risk of breast cancer. These women may need to be screened more frequently and
from an earlier age. In women under the age of 40, mammograms are not as
effective at detecting changes in the breast tissue so a magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) scan is used instead. An MRI scan involves lying down inside a large tube
which contains a series of magnets which are used to visualise the breast tissue

Benefits
o it can offer peace of mind to women who are worried about breast
cancer
o it can detect any changes at an early stage when treatment is more
likely to be successful
o Mammograms can detect cancer up to 18 months earlier than it may
be clinically detectable, and MRI scans up to 3 years earlier

Limitations
o One limitation of screening which has been a recent source of
controversy in the news is that although mammograms can detect
cancers in the breast, they might also pick up tumours that are
essentially harmless which can expose some women to undue anxiety
and treatment of lumps which may never have progressed to cancer
o Recent reports about potential radiation risk from mammography. A
mammogram is an x-ray and so there is some exposure to radiation,
although this is a very low dose and is outweighed by the benefits of
screening
www.le.ac.uk/vgec