WALES BREAST CANCER SCREENING, 'MOST SUCCESSFUL IN UK'

MORE breast cancers are being detected in Wales than by any other screening programme in the UK.

Figures produced by the Cancer Screening Evaluation Unit reveal Breast Test Wales had the highest cancer detection rate for women attending for their first screening test.

For every 1,000 women screened 6.7 cancers were detected.

Figures today also reveal that women diagnosed with cancer following Breast Test Wales screening also have the lowest waiting times for surgery.

But despite the success of screening there are fears throughout the UK that the number of women taking up the invitation for a mammogram has fallen slightly.

Dr Rose Fox, deputy director of Screening Services Wales, said, "When cancers are detected, people can go on to have potentially life-saving treatments earlier than they would have done without screening"

She added: “We are able to offer women screening very close to where they live so women are not having to travel long distances.

Research has found that a smaller proportion of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer via a routine mammogram undergo chemotherapy compared to those women who find a lump in their breast.

More than 140,000 women are invited for screening every year in Wales and about 105,000 attend their appointments – an uptake rate of more than 74%.

As a result of the screening programme, 2,463 people were diagnosed with breast cancer in Wales in 2006 – the most recent figures available.

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women in both the UK – the rate of diagnosis in Wales is the highest in the UK at 124.4 cases per 100,000 women.

But the rate of deaths from breast cancer in Wales – 26.66 per 100,000 – is lower than that for the UK as a whole.