Mammogram letter arrived today..... slightly hesitant.

[Tolkienista]

I had my first mammogram Dec 2008, (then every 3 years since) my last mammogram was Dec 2018. I guess the pandemic has put the normal 3 year cycle out of sync. I don't look forward to it, but feel an overwhelming feeling of relief when each time I've had an all clear letter.

The point of my post is that I've just found out that my sister who is 2 years younger has never taken up her invitation to attend. She is fit and healthy just like me, but she said the risks are too high from repeated mammograms.

I'm left wondering who is right? Any thoughts? I'd never forgive myself if in a couple of years time I found something that turned out to be cancerous and I'd not attended a routine mammogram offered to me. I'm fully intending to attend my appointment on June 1st.

I have never had a mammogram and the NHS asked me to sign a form to request removal of my name from the list (& presumably so I don't sue them!). I think there is a significant minority of women who choose not to have them, inc some who are medically qualified.
There are known risks of over-treatment as a result of screening, and I would prefer just to accept whatever comes my way in the fullness of time.
Have one or don't have one - the choice is yours, but don't let others influence you.

@IdiotCreatures That guidance says that the mammogram screenings can result in false negatives and false positives, though, it doesn’t say that undergoing a mammogram causes harm in itself.

It’s incorrect interpretation of the results or something being missed in the screening that would cause harm.

Obviously if you don’t have a mammogram, there’s no chance of false negatives or positives. But, there’s still the possibility of cancers going undetected for years until they’re less treatable. I’d rather have the mammogram, tbh.

One answer and it is obvious: just go straight away, there is no downside.

That’s a perfectly reasonable choice, @Hbh17 . No one should be forced to have mammograms, it’s your body. We all weigh up risks and decide.

I'm off to bed now.........thanks again for all your really interesting comments, I've learnt a lot from reading through them and in particular those from practising GPs.

Archerdog......sorry to hear about your mother's friend and her breast cancer diagnosis.

It’s incorrect interpretation of the results or something being missed in the screening that would cause harm

No, the main cause of harm is treating women who would never have developed full-blown cancer.

Screening does not usually detect actual cancer, it mainly detects a condition called ductal carcinoma in situ. This can turn into full- blown cancer, but, in some women, it doesn’t. The problem is that we don’t know which women with DCIS will get full cancer, so we end up treating everyone, meaning that thousands of women each year have mastectomies and other unpleasant treatments that they did not need - and experience all the fear that a cancer diagnosis brings, when they would never have had cancer.

So screening is absolutely brilliant and lifesaving for some women, but inflicts major unnecessary harm on others. The problem is, at the moment, no one knows which group is which.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow I was paraphrasing the page the poster had linked to, that particular page only discusses false positives and negatives. I accept there may be other risks that aren’t listed there.

So what is the difference between a lump found by a mammogram and a lump discovered by checking your breasts?

That's not an easy question to answer when the treatment can mean severe and/or long-lasting side effects.

What is a better solution @MissLucyEyelesbarrow?

Is there a way we can catch breast cancer before it's too late without also treating a lot of women who don't have cancer?

@toomuchlaundry Someone with expertise should answer this, but this is what the Cancer Research website says - it’s what my mammogram showed last year:

“With early stage breast cancer, there might not be a lump. But your mammogram may show small areas of calcium in the breast tissue.

These areas of calcium are called calcification. But calcification also develops because of non cancerous changes in the breast. The skill and experience of the technicians and doctors helps them to read the different patterns and decide which might be related to cancer and so need further tests.”

I had no lumps but the calcium deposits were obvious on the mammogram, even to my untrained eyes. The doctor determined that mine weren’t cancerous, but they’ll be watching them from now on.

I've been concerned about the mammogram screening programme for the over treatment reasons mentioned. I refused my last but one mammogram but went to my recent one which thankfully was negative.
The leaflet that goes with this screening lays out the over treatment risks quite clearly and it does make me think that the breast screening programme isn't fit for purpose.
Interestingly, the GP didn't send the leaflet with my last invite letter.