Breast screening is a way of finding breast cancers early, when they are too small for you or your doctor to see or feel. The first stage of breast screening is a mammogram. A mammogram is an x-ray of each breast.

Under the present Department of Health guidelines all women registered with a GP and aged 50 to 70 (64 in Northern Ireland) are offered a free mammogram every three years. If you are older than this you won’t be automatically invited for breast screening, but you can still have free mammograms by making your own appointment every three years. It is important to do this, as the risk of developing breast cancer increases as women get older.

Women under 50 are not routinely offered breast screening because large research trials have shown that regular screening of this group does not help to save lives. Breast cancer is uncommon in women under 50, and the radiation exposure from regular mammography in younger women is more of a risk. Mammograms are less effective at detecting breast cancer in women who have not had their menopause. The menopause happens, on average, around the age of 50. After the menopause the breast tissue is less dense, which makes mammograms easier to read and the results more reliable.

Women under 50 who have an increased risk of breast cancer because of a family history will be offered regular screening. This may involve a different type of screening test called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

As part of the Government’s Cancer Reform Strategy the Department of Health plans to extend the age range for breast screening from 47 to 73 years. They aim for every woman to have their first breast screening before the age of 50. These changes will be phased in gradually across the country from 2008.

Each year over one and a half million women in the UK have breast cancer screening as part of the NHS Breast Screening Programme. The programme is nationally coordinated and sets national standards.