Targeted breast checks ‘would cost lives’

TARGETING breast cancer screening at the women most at risk would lead to more deaths every year, says a report.

Dr Nora Pashayan of University College London led a study which shows that scrapping screening for low-risk women would cut ‘over-diagnosis’ by 27 per cent but increase deaths by 3 per cent.

Over-diagnosis can result in operations such as lumpectomies for cancers that may not have developed before a patient died.

Dr Pashayan said: ‘The more you screen... the more you reduce deaths. The more you screen the more you increase the probability of over-diagnosis. If you screen less you reduce over-diagnosis but also you can miss cases of breast cancer.’

The NHS invites women aged 50-70 for screening every three years. The study – a simulation based on real data – tested an alternative excluding women seen as lowrisk due to genetic or lifestyle factors.

Baroness Delyth Morgan of charity Breast Cancer Now said: ‘It’s extremely concerning that this particular model would see more women die from their disease as a result.’