Skipping just one mammogram screening prior to being diagnosed with breast cancer can significantly increase your risk of death by 41 per cent, a study has warned.
Researchers analysed health data on nearly 550,000 women from nine Swedish counties who were eligible for breast cancer screening between 1992 and 2016.
They found that women who attended their screening sessions were 50 per cent less likely to die of breast cancer in the next ten years than those who did not.
Mammogram screenings can help detect breast cancer at an early stage when it is easier to treat, thereby helping to reduce deaths from the disease.
Despite its established effectiveness, however, experts have warned that many women are not participating in the regular examinations recommended to them.
Having skipped just one mammogram screening (pictured) prior to being diagnosed with breast cancer can significantly increase your risk of death, a study has warned (stock image)
‘Regular participation in all scheduled screens confers the greatest reduction in your risk of dying from breast cancer,’ said paper author and cancer epidemiologist Stephen Duffy of the Queen Mary University of London.
‘While we suspected that regular participation would confer a reduction greater than that with irregular participation, I think it is fair to say that we were slightly surprised by the size of the effect,’ he added.
‘The findings support the hypothesis that regular attendance reduces the opportunity for the cancer to grow before it is detected.’
In their study, Professor Duffy and colleagues divided the women from their dataset into groups based on whether they attended the two screening exams that were scheduled prior to their diagnosis with breast cancer.
They dubbed those who had attended both screening sessions as ‘serial participants’, while those who skipped them were labelled ‘serial nonparticipants’.
The researchers analysis showed that participating in both of the mammogram appointments provided a higher protection against death from breast cancer than attending only one or neither of the appointments.
Specifically, attending both screens led to a 29 per cent reduction in breast cancer mortality as compared to those women who only attended one of the previous tests.
With their present study complete, the team are now looking to develop a more detailed picture of the benefits of routine mammogram screenings — including how such impacts so-called ‘interval cancers’ that arise between examinations.
‘We are planning further prognostic research into the mechanism of this effect,’ Professor Duffy commented.
‘We plan to investigate whether and — if so — to what extent regular attendance improves the prognosis of interval cancers as well as screen-detected cancers.
Mammogram screenings can help detect breast cancer at an early stage when it is easier to treat — thereby helping to reduce deaths from the disease (stock image)
‘Estimation of this by time since last screen may have implications for policy on screening frequency.’
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Radiology.
In the UK, any woman concerned that they might have breast cancer can see their GP and be referred for a screening.
But in recognition that the risk of getting breast cancer increases with age, all women aged between 50 and 70 who are registered with a GP should automatically be invited for screening every three years.
Women are first invited for screening between their 50th and 53rd birthday, although in some areas they are invited from age 47 as part of a trial.