Calls for women with dense breasts to be given extra cancer scans

Researchers have called on the NHS for additional screenings.

This comes after researchers concluded women with dense breasts should be offered additional scans as part of the NHS breast screening programme.

They said this would save lives and help detect more cancers.

Cambridge University-led a study of over 9,000 women.

The study found that using different scans from traditional mammograms could detect three times the number of cancers in the group of women.

Approximately one in 10 women have very dense breasts and have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

However, dense breasts make cancers are harder to spot because they appear the same colour on mammograms as early-stage cancers.

Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge co-ordinated the trial and tested women with dense breast who, after a mammogram, were told they did not have cancer.

They tested these women with different scanning methods.

One of the trial participants, Louise Duffield, had an early-stage breast cancer diagnosed.

She underwent surgery and had the tumour removed within weeks.

The 60-year-old said the diagnosis was a 'big shock'.

"It's been a stressful time, and it's a huge relief to have it gone. The tumour was deep in the breast, so if I hadn't been on the trial, it could have gone unnoticed for years," she added.

The study, which was published in The Lancet, found two alternative methods, an enhanced mammogram and a fast MRI scan, detected 17–19 cancers per 1,000 women.

In contrast, mammograms detect 8 cancers per 1,000 women.

In both alternative methods, injections are used to make blood vessels more visible, as breast tumours are made up of a lot of blood vessels.

Women aged 50 to 71 undergo a breast screening every three years, with only around two thirds actually attending screenings.

According to the study, as well as the level of uptake, using the different scanning methods on women with dense breasts could identify 3,500 extra cancers each year, potentially saving 700 lives.

Leader of this research, Professor Fiona Gilbert, insists the new approach could make a difference.

"We need to change our national screening programme so we can make sure more cancers are diagnosed early, giving many more women a much better chance of survival," she continued.

A new national cancer plan for the country is set to be published later this year.