Breast screening halves deaths

Deaths from breast cancer in East Anglia have been cut almost in half thanks to cancer screening, a new study has revealed.

An assessment of the national screening programme in the region showed that screening reduced deaths by 48 per cent.

Lead researcher Professor Stephen Duffy, Cancer Research UK’s professor of cancer screening, said the results are better than scientists had predicted.

“This is the strongest evidence yet that screening programmes like this save lives,” he added.

“We hope to collect data from other regions in the future, allowing us to compare programmes across the UK, bringing the best practices to areas that aren?t performing as well.”

The findings are published in the British Journal of Cancer.

Julietta Patnick, director of NHS cancer screening programmes, said she was “delighted” with the study’s results and hoped it would encourage more women to come forward for screening.

The study’s findings were released just days after the prime minister announced plans to extend NHS screening programmes.

The government has already committed to extending breast cancer screening by 2010 so that more women are checked.

Women aged 47 to 73 will be invited so that every woman will have their first screening before the age of 50.