Early Checks ‘Halve Breast Cancer Death'

Early breast cancer screening can reduce the risk of dying from it by almost half, research reveals.

- Alice Fuller

It could also reduce their risk of advanced breast cancer by a quarter.

The findings come from a study of more than half a million women in Sweden who were eligible for mammography screening.

The test uses an X-ray that can spot cancers when they are too small to see or feel – which helps with early detection and improves chances of survival.

Researchers at London’s Queen Mary University and Falun Central Hospital in Sweden calculated rates of advanced and fatal breast cancer in 549,091 women within 10 years of diagnosis.