Woman found cancer after requesting mammogram at 79
The 79-year-old woman, who learned that she had breast cancer after requesting a screening from her GP, asked other people over the age of 70 to apply for routine mammograms.
Carol Turansky, from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, said she had no symptoms of the condition before being diagnosed earlier this year but wanted to have a scan after having breast cancer 23 years ago.
Women aged 50 to 70 They are invited for regular breast screenings, but Turansky wants the NHS to do more to raise awareness that older women can ask for a mammogram every three years.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said decisions about breast cancer screening were made based on the best available evidence.
“Cancer doesn’t stop when you turn 70, and neither should mammograms,” Turansky said.
Her petition calling for an NHS campaign to educate older women on how to get themselves mammograms has been signed by more than 70,000 people.
The NHS said the benefits of screening were balanced by the risks in different age groups.
79-year-old man didn’t want to risk going unchecked after first being diagnosed with cancer in his fifties [JAMIE NIBLOCK/BBC]
Turansky decided to organize her own screening earlier this year, adding: “If it wasn’t for the mammogram, who knows? It would just get bigger and bigger.”
“I don’t want the NHS to keep sending out invitations, I accept that, but at least let people have the option to self-apply.
“Not enough people realize they can do this.”
Her husband, Philip, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and died in 2011 at the age of 78, she said.
Mammograms, which check for changes in the breasts, are not routinely offered to women age 49 and younger or age 71 and older. [Getty Images]
Turansky said there was “no swelling or pain” to alert him that he had the condition and that his cancer was only detected through screening.
He said he “patted his head every day” to get an appointment and “shuddered to think” what would have happened if he had not made an appointment.
Turansky said she will now undergo a mastectomy.
Research shows that one third of all breast cancers It is seen in women aged 71 and over.
Turansky said many people responding to his petition shared similar concerns about what he called a “critical gap in NHS services”.
“There are people who say their mothers died of cancer at the age of 76, but if they had had a mammogram they might not have died because the disease was so advanced.
“Tell your mother, your aunt, your neighbor to get a mammogram,” he said.
The Big C charity has been running for 45 years and supports people with cancer and research into the condition [NIKKI FOX/BBC]
Sam Robinson, from Norfolk-based cancer charity Big C and formerly a breast cancer nurse, said there were a number of reasons why routine breast screening might stop after the age of 70.
“Patients may also have other health problems. Treatments can harm their health. This is based on research, so that’s why it’s focused on people in their 70s.”
NHS England says there is risk Overdiagnosis increases with ageThis means that some cancers detected may never cause harm.
“Someone in older age is more likely to die from breast cancer than from breast cancer,” Robinson said.
But she said screening remains important, especially if women notice changes or are otherwise concerned.
She added: “You can contact your local breast screening unit or doctor directly and request a mammogram every three years.
“If people aren’t going for screening, things can easily be missed.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Decisions about breast cancer screening are made based on the best available evidence, with the independent UK National Screening Committee keeping all programs under careful review.”
Cancer Research UK and AgeX are supporting a UK study to examine cancer risks and benefits Expanding screening to women 47 to 49 and 71 to 73 years old.
The report is expected to be published in 2027.
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