Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy. I am delighted that she is here to speak on such a relevant topic. The BreastCheck programme is currently available to women between the ages of 50 and 69. According to the BreastCheck website, "the Department of Health and Children chose this age group for screening as there is a greater proportion of women at risk of dying from the disease in this age group". However, recent statistics have shown that the greater age group is actually those between the ages of 35 and 50. Under the screening programme for women between the ages of 50 and 69, women are checked for breast cancer, regardless of whether they have any symptoms. Screening and surveillance are secondary preventive measures that aim to detect breast cancer at the earliest possible stage to reduce the rate of breast cancer death. Screening refers to monitoring those at average risk of disease. Surveillance refers to the monitoring of those known to have an increased risk of the disease. Internationally recommended surveillance imaging options include digital mammography, magnetic resonance imaging or a combination of the two.

Every year, approximately 2,600 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 660 women die from the disease. One in ten women in Ireland will have breast cancer at some stage of their lives. I know from my own experience that women under the age of 50 are at a crucial stage of their lives in this respect. I went to school with three sisters, two of whom were diagnosed with breast cancer at the ages of 38 and 41. Their treatment has been very successful for them to date, but the fear is always there. The devastating effects of being diagnosed with advanced cancer for women under the age of 50 and their families should not be underestimated from an economic and social perspective. By the time women present with symptoms of breast cancer, it can often be quite advanced and may have spread. Approximately one in five women already have metastatic or secondary breast cancer at first presentation. Finding cancer as early as possible gives a large survival advantage in any age group.

The American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology suggest that women should have annual mammograms from the age of 40. Many countries that have a basic screening service from the age of 50 also give women the option of avail of screening from the age of 35. BreastCheck plays a pivotal role in the prevention of breast cancer. Of the 92,061 women over the age of 50 who were screened between 2008 and 2009, 4,119 were recalled for further assessment and 672 were diagnosed with breast cancer.This represents 7.3 cancers per 1,000 women screened. The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, recommended recently that for women with an identified risk of breast cancer an annual MRI between the ages of 30 and 49 is cost-effective compared with no surveillance. In another small cohort of women who have a high probability of breast cancer annual surveillance between the ages of 20 and 49 is the optimal strategy recommended by HIQA. It also advised the national cancer control programme on the implementation of an organised surveillance programme for women under the age of 50 in Ireland who are known to be at elevated risk of breast cancer due to these genetic or family history factors. I call on the Minister of State to consider reducing the age from 50 to 40 in the hope that this very worthwhile screening will save the lives of many women.