Media release

Regular screening, early detection, better outcomes

In its seventh national monitoring report for the BreastScreen Australia Program, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says more women are undergoing early detection screening, and the cancers being found are smaller and more treatable.

Mr John Harding, Head of the Health Registers and Cancer Monitoring Unit, said over 1.6 million women participated in the BreastScreen Australia Program in 2002 and 2003.

More women in the target age group of 50-69 years are now undergoing regular breast screening. Their participation is up from 54.6% in 1997 and 1998 to 56.1% in 2002 and 2003.

Of the 842,000 women aged 40 and over who were screened in 2003, invasive cancers were detected in 3,663 (about one in every 230 women), while ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) was found in a further 883 women.

'DCIS is a disease that involves changes in the cells lining the breast ducts. It is a strong indicator of increased risk of developing an invasive breast cancer, so early detection is key,' Mr Harding said.

There appears to be a significant benefit in regular screening. For women aged 40 and over who were being screened for the first time, 9% were asked to return for further testing. Of the invasive cancers subsequently detected, 54% were small-diameter cancers. By comparison, only 4% of women who had been screened in the past required follow-up and 65% of the invasive cancers detected in those follow-up test were small-diameter cancers.

For the target group of women 50 to 69 years, the mortality rate dropped from 66.7 per 100,000 women in 1989, to 54.1 in 2003.

Some groups of women, including those who do not speak English in the home as their first language, and Indigenous women, have participation rates that are currently below the national rate of 56.1%.

However, the rate of participation for Indigenous women has improved significantly since 1997 and 1998. Further improvements to participation rates could help maintain or improve this downward trend in mortality rates.

Breast cancer remains both the most common cancer in women in Australia, with 12,027 new cases in 2002, and the leading cause of cancer deaths in women - 2,713 deaths in 2003. However, a combination of early detection and improved treatments has seen mortality rates drop substantially.

3 May 2006

Further information: Mr John Harding, AIHW, tel. 02 6244 1140

For media copies of the report: Publications Officer, AIHW, tel 61 2 6244 1032.

Availability: Check the AIHW Publications Catalogue for availability of the BreastScreen Australia monitoring report 2002-2003.