Breast cancer statistics are “shocking”

Breakthrough Breast Cancer’s recent report that some people are waiting for more than two years for breast cancer genetic test results, has been condemned by the Liberal Democrats’ shadow health secretary, Steve Webb.

The report from Breakthrough, a breast cancer charity, found that some women are considering having mastectomies without having found out whether or not they are at risk of hereditary breast cancer because of the length of time it has taken for test results to com through.

The charity discovered that over half of its genetic counsellor respondents decided to go private because they had waited so long for results – a situation branded as “unacceptable”.

Mr Webb remarked: “These are shocking statistics. Women are having to wait an inhuman amount of time for the results of tests. The drastic measures some women are taking show the extent of distress which is being caused.”

“It seems illogical that it should take so much time to get the results from tests. The government must speed up the process or many women at risk will be put off having these essential tests in the first place,” he added.

The genetic tests do take time, Breakthrough’s chief executive, Jeremy Hughes, admitted, but he told BBC One’s Breakfast programme that labs must be “properly resourced” to carry the tests out quicker.

Breakthrough estimates that five per cent of breast cancer occurs in women with a strong family history of the disease.

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