Breast screening team joins forces with ITV for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
St George’s breast screening team joined forces with ITV’s Lorraine to highlight the importance of breast screening earlier today (Wednesday 6 October).
Breast cancer screening saves the lives of around 1,300 women every year in the UK and around 21,000 cancers are detected via this method. The NHS breast screening programme invites women aged 50 and older to attend a breast screening appointment every three years.
Juliet Olalekan, a patient at St George’s, has been through the process and wants to encourage women to come forward for their screening and reassure them about what to expect.
She said: “It was quick and easy. It took about five minutes for the screening and all I felt was pressure on my breast but no pain. It’s not painful, it’s not scary, it’s nothing, it’s just easy and straight forward.”
Elizabeth Muscat, Director of Breast Screening at St George’s, said: “Breast screening is really important because it saves lives. It detects cancer when it is really tiny and is not necessarily felt and therefore it affords us a better opportunity for treatment and treatment is likely more successful.”
She added: “It is really important for women to attend screening when they are invited but at the same time it is really important that women do not delay presenting to their GP if they have a symptom: if they feel anything in their breast or they observe any changes.”
ITV’s Dr Anisha said: “Go to your GP with any symptoms and attend your screening programmes because we know early diagnosis saves lives.”
The feature has taken place at the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and ITV has launched a Change and Check campaign to raise awareness. You can watch the full feature here. You can watch the full ITV Lorraine feature here.
