England has seen a 61 per cent increase in breast cancer detected by the NHS breast screening programme in six years, a report by the NHS Information Centre reveals.

Approximately 13,400 cancers were detected in 2006-7 (a 61 per cent increase since 2000-01) and 78 per cent of them were invasive - the most serious type of tumour.

More than half (53 per cent) of the invasive cancers detected were too small to have been discovered by hand.

The increase in detection may be due to the current expansion of the NHS breast screening programme to include 65 to 70 year olds.

The report: Breast Screening Programme: England 2006/7: also showed:

• More than 2.1 million women were invited for screening in 2006-7 – 50 per cent more than a decade ago.
• Of those invited in 2006-7, 1.6 million (74 per cent) were screened, compared to 1.1 million in 1996/97.
• Coverage (the proportion of eligible women who were screened within the last three years) for 53 to 64 year olds is now at 76 per cent.
• Coverage of 65 to 70 year-olds has reached almost 68 per cent. The programme increased its target age range (previously women aged 50 to 64) to include women aged 65 to 70 from 2001.

“These figures show a clear relationship between the expansion of the breast cancer screening programme and the rise in the amount of cancers being detected." IC Chief Executive Tim Straughan

IC Chief Executive Tim Straughan said: “These figures show a clear relationship between the expansion of the breast cancer screening programme and the rise in the amount of cancers being detected.

“It is particularly interesting to see that of those invasive cancers detected in 2006-7, more than 50 per cent could not have been detected by hand. The findings show the importance of screening in detecting cancer early and giving women a far greater chance of survival.”