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Ministers 'fail to warn of cancer screening risks'
Sophie Goodchild, Health Editor19.02.09
A LEADING cancer specialist today attacked the Government for its "unethical" failure to warn women of the "risks" of breast cancer screening.
Professor Michael Baum, from University College London warns that many women aged 50 to 70 undergo unnecessary treatment. He says: "The number of invasive breast cancers detected is not falling, despite the number of cases picked up by screening rising dramatically... It just doesn't add up."
The expert, who helped pioneer screening, is one of 23 who have signed a letter to the Times labelling the NHS "outrageous" for "not setting out the facts".
They say GPs should have a greater role assessing women by looking at family history and demographic trends.
The attack on screening comes ahead of a study which concludes only one in 2,000 women screened will be saved from dying of breast cancer. The Nordic Cochrane breast cancer centre report says that, at the same time, ten of the 2,000 will be treated unnecessarily, and a further 200 will have a false alarm.
The findings have prompted a fierce debate over the value of screening. More than 1.7 million women are screened a year, and the programme is seen as a huge success. Cancer experts Professor Karol Sikora told the Standard: "It's true women are now better educated about breast lumps and cancer and this has partly reduced the value for screening. But there is no argument for scrapping [it]."
