Breast Screening Programme - England, 2006-07 [NS]

At 31 March 2007

• 76.0 per cent of women aged 53-64 resident in England had been screened at least once in the previous three years (75.9 per cent last year)
• for women aged 65-70, in the extended part of the programme, coverage has now reached 67.7 per cent, up nearly nine (8.7) percentage points from March 2006, as the programme continues to be rolled out.

In 2006-07

• over 1.6 million women aged 45 and over were screened within the programme, an increase of around 1 per cent from 2005-06. The last ten years have seen the programme grow by 48 per cent from 1.1 million in 1996-97
• there were 13,443 cases of cancer diagnosed in women screened aged 45 and over. Of these, invasive cancers accounted for 10,484 (78.0 per cent)
• of the invasive cancers detected, 5,532 (52.8 per cent) were 15mm or less in size, which could not have been detected by hand.