The West Midlands screening histories results

Utilising cancer registration and screening data, every primary breast cancer case diagnosed in women eligible for screening in the West Midlands since screening began until March 2006 was assigned a screening status based on the woman's screening history. Tumours were allocated to one of eight screening status categories [1]. The 10-year relative survival was calculated for the five main categories.

A total of 24,095 cancers were classified (Table 1). Of these, 27% were classified as interval cancers, and the incidence rates of these cases were lower for the 25-month to 36-month period from screening to diagnosis compared with the 0-month to 24-month period. Of these interval cancers, 62% were diagnosed in women who had been screened more than once. In the most affluent women, 30% were interval cancers and 7% were non-attenders. In the most deprived women, 21% were interval cancers and 15% were non-attenders.

Table 1

Women with screen-detected breast cancer had the best survival rates; women with interval cancers had survival rates above those of non-attenders, highlighting the benefits of screening.