Breast cancer screening: Do you know enough?
Do you think the national breast cancer screening programme is working?
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Last year 2.2 million women were asked to take part in the NHS UK's breast cancer programme. As a result over 10,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed through the screening programme each year.
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But not everyone believes the current system works. Professor Michael Baum was the architect for the national screening programme. He believes that the money assigned to blanket screenings for woman over 50 could be better spent on clinics for women with symptoms of the disease.
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Professor Baum also told The One Show's Anita Rani that there's a danger of women going through treatment they don't need.
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As a result of a routine mammogram One Show viewer Jane Flanders had a partial mastectomy and nipple reconstruction but she told Anita that she wasn't convinced it was necessary and she feels the treatments ruined her health.
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But other women like Dymphna Dale feel that the option of routine mammograms gives her peace of mind and she will continue to have them.
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In light of this debate, there are concerns that women just won't bother going for regular screenings. Peter Johnson, the chief clinician at Cancer Research UK believes it's dangerous to scare people away from a programme that has bought substantial benefits. "There's always a worry that people do the default position which is sometimes to do nothing," he said.
For more information on breast cancer screening, go to:
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