By: Laura Milne
From: express.co.uk
DESPITE age being the greatest risk factor, up to a third of women no longer attend checks once they stop getting invitations to routine screening at 70.
When Valerie Saunders stopped receiving invitations for routine mammograms after she passed the age of 70 she thought she was no longer at risk of developing breast cancer. The former dancer, now 78, from Northwood, west London, says:
“You stop receiving letters to invite you for mammograms so I just assumed that meant I obviously wasn’t at risk any more and didn’t need to go. “It was my sister Cheryl who first encouraged me to make an appointment. We’re very close. We were dancers and toured together years ago.
She kept nagging me, as did my husband Ron, so I went to see my GP and she was very happy to make an appointment for me at the breast-screening unit.” As it turned out that nagging from her sister and her husband could have saved her life as Valerie was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 76 in August 2015.
“I went for a mammogram and didn’t think anything else of it,” she recalls. “So I was shocked to get a letter calling me back for a biopsy. I asked there and then if they knew if it was cancer and the specialist just said, ‘Let’s hope I’m wrong’. So I had a sort of warning that it might be bad news before I was officially told a week later.”
Valerie’s assumption that she was no longer at risk because she was not part of the national screening programme, in which all women who are aged 50 to 70 and registered with a GP are automatically invited for breast cancer screening every three years, is not an uncommon one.
Despite the fact that eight out of 10 breast cancers are diagnosed in women aged 50 and over, a YouGov survey of more than 1,000 women in that age group, commissioned by the charity Breast Cancer Care, has revealed that two thirds of over-50s don’t realise that getting older is the main risk factor for the disease.
One third of women diagnosed with breast cancer are aged 70 and over and almost half of deaths from breast cancer are in women aged 75 and over. Worryingly the YouGov figures also revealed that a third of women over 70 did not know they could continue to ask for regular mammograms once their routine invitations for screening stop.
Breast Cancer Care is concerned this suggests they are not receiving, or retaining, clear information on their options when routine screening appointments end.
Her GP referred her for a mammogram, then a biopsy confirmed that she had cancer. “I thought I was going to die, I was in the most dreadful state,” she recalls.
“I hadn’t really thought I was at risk of getting breast cancer as I always thought the main risk factors were being overweight and possibly drinking too much alcohol. “All my life I have been careful about my diet, eating plenty of fruit and fresh vegetables, not too much red meat and plenty of fish and white meat.
And I have always made sure I did not put on weight by taking plenty of exercise.
So my diagnosis came as a shock. “I had a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and was determined to get better quickly. The chemotherapy was awful. I felt ill all the time and really struggled with losing my hair. I had five wigs by the end of the treatment. Radiotherapy was a challenge too as I had to go to hospital every weekday for six weeks, a big commitment for my husband, who was 87 at the time and drove me on the 30-mile round trip every day.”
Breast Cancer Care says women should have access to all the information they need to remain breast-aware as they age. This includes knowing the risk factors, being aware of signs and symptoms so they can spot unusual changes quickly and knowing they are still very much at risk of breast cancer and can request mammograms over the age of 70 if they wish to do so. Dr Emma Pennery of the charity says:
“We know that lifestyle choices play a significant part in breast cancer risk, so it’s definitely important for women to consider making small changes like eating a balanced, low-fat diet, taking regular exercise and limiting their alcohol intake.
“However the biggest risk factors for breast cancer are things outside our control – being female and getting older. So it’s vital women know they are still at risk and continue to be breast-aware as they age, by looking at and feeling their breasts regularly so they can spot and report unusual changes quickly. “It’s also crucial women are armed with the information they need to request screening appointments after the age of 70 if they wish to do so. Many women we speak to on our helpline assume that because they no longer receive routine invitations to screening, they are no longer at risk.
But that isn’t the case. Breast cancer risk continues to grow as we get older. “Women over 70 can visit their GP to be referred for screening or call their local breast screening unit.” Valerie had a lumpectomy and radiotherapy and still takes medication to reduce the risk of the cancer returning. She says: “I imagine lots of other women assume their breast cancer risk goes away when they aren’t called for screening any more, just like I did.
So it’s really important we focus on that more and let women know to keep checking their breasts.” Dorothy agrees. “I used to think the risk of breast cancer diminished as you got older. I now know this is not true. So I want other women to feel empowered to ask for regular mammograms if they wish to do so.
“It can be easy to forget, particularly as we get older and other health worries come to the fore. Not everyone will want to attend but I’m proof that these checks could save your life.”
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.