ANNUAL mammogram screening should be extended to up to 86,000 women in their mid to late thirties with a family history of breast cancer, suggests a trial conducted at 34 UK screening centres.
The study examined data for almost 2900 women who had annual mammograms from 2006 to 2015. All were between the ages of 35 and 39, and were deemed to have a moderate or high risk of breast cancer due to their family history. Of 35 invasive tumours identified, 80 per cent were 2 centimetres or smaller. In a group with a similar risk level that didn鈥檛 undergo annual screening, only 45 per cent of detected breast cancers were that small (EClinicalMedicine, ).
Current UK guidelines recommend annual screening for women aged 40 to 49 who are at moderate or high risk of breast cancer. 鈥淥ur trial shows that screening is effective in detecting tumours earlier in this younger age group,鈥� says Gareth Evans at the University of Manchester, UK.
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