AAA SCREENING
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening is a way of checking if there’s a bulge in the aorta, the large blood vessel in your abdomen that takes blood from the heart to the lower part of your body.
In England, it is offered to men during the year they turn 65, as men aged 65 or over are most at risk of getting AAAs. It is not routinely offered to women or men under the age of 65.
Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm is important because if it is not spotted early it can grow in size and eventually rupture, which is life threatening.
A simple ultrasound scan is all that’s needed. If you’re a man and registered with a GP, you’ll receive a screening invitation in the post when you’re 64 or soon after your 65th birthday. You can then arrange an appointment that suits you. If you’re a man over 65 and have not been screened before, you can ask for a test by contacting your local AAA screening service directly.
BOWEL SCREENING
NHS bowel screening is a way of testing healthy people to see if they show any early signs of cancer. It’s available to everyone aged 60 or over. From April 2021 the NHS is starting to reduce the age range for bowel cancer screening to anyone aged 50 & over.
You use a home test kit, called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT), to collect a small sample of poo and send it to a lab. This is checked for tiny amounts of blood.
Blood can be a sign of polyps or bowel cancer. Polyps are growths in the bowel. They are not cancer but may turn into cancer over time.
If the test finds anything unusual, you might be asked to have further tests to confirm or rule out cancer.
Always consult your GP if you have symptoms of bowel cancer at any age, even if you have recently completed an NHS bowel cancer screening test kit – do not wait to have a screening test.
The symptoms of bowel cancer can be subtle and do not necessarily make you feel ill. However, it’s worth trying simple treatments for a short time to see if they get better.
More than 90% of people with bowel cancer have 1 of the following combinations of symptoms:
- a persistent change in bowel habit – pooing more often, with looser, runnier poos and sometimes tummy (abdominal) pain
- blood in the poo without other symptoms of piles (haemorrhoids) – this makes it unlikely the cause is haemorrhoids
- abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating – sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten and weight loss
Constipation, where you pass harder stools less often, is rarely caused by serious bowel conditions. Most people with these symptoms do not have bowel cancer.
See a GP if you have any of the symptoms of bowel cancer for 3 weeks or more.
BREAST SCREENING
Screening aims to find breast cancers early, when they have the best chance of being cured.
To have screening you have an x-ray of your breast called a mammogram.
Breast screening is for women between the ages of 50 and 70, it is also for some trans or non-binary people.
You should get a letter with your results within 2 weeks. This will tell you what you need to do next.
It is important to remember that screening will not prevent you from getting breast cancer but aims to find early breast cancers.
Each year more than 2 million women have breast cancer screening in the UK. The NHS Breast Screening Programme invites all women from the age of 50 to 70 for screening every 3 years. This means that some people may not have their first screening mammogram until they are 52 or 53 years.
In some parts of England, the screening programme has been inviting women from 47 to 73 years old as part of a trial.
If you are older than 70, you can still have screening every 3 years but you won’t automatically be invited. To make an appointment, talk to your GP or your local breast screening unit.
If you are younger than 50, your risk of breast cancer is generally very low. Mammograms are more difficult to read in younger women because their breast tissue is denser and the patterns on the mammogram don’t show up as well. There is little evidence to show that regular mammograms for women below the screening age would reduce deaths from breast cancer.
Breast screening is also for some trans or non-binary people. Talk to your GP or Gender Identity Clinic about this.
Possible benefits of breast screening
Breast cancers found by screening are generally at an early stage. Very early breast cancers are usually easier to treat, may need less treatment, and are more likely to be cured.
The current evidence suggests that breast screening reduces the number of deaths from breast cancer by about 1,300 a year in the UK.
Almost all women diagnosed with breast cancer at the earliest possible stage survive for at least 5 years after diagnosis and have a good prospect of being cured.
Breast Awareness
Even if you are having mammograms every 3 years it is important to make sure that you know how your breasts normally look and feel. Many breast cancers are still found by women themselves. Cancers can develop between mammograms. This is known as an interval cancer. Mammograms can also miss some cancers.
If you notice any unusual changes in your breast don’t wait until your next mammogram. See your GP straight away.
CERVICAL SCREENING
Cervical screening saves lives. Don’t ignore your cervical screening invite. If you missed your last one, book an appointment at your GP practice now.
Two women die every day from cervical cancer, yet it is one of the most preventable cancers. Around 2,700 women in England are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and it is the second most common cancer amongst women under 35 years of age.
Cervical screening is a free health test available on the NHS as part of the national cervical screening programme. It helps prevent cervical cancer by checking for a virus called high-risk HPV and cervical cell changes. It is not a test for cancer.
You should be invited for cervical screening if you have a cervix. Women are usually born with a cervix. Trans men, non-binary and intersex people may also have one.
In the UK, you are automatically invited for cervical screening if you are:
- between the ages of 25 to 64
- registered as female with a GP surgery
You may get your first invite up to 6 months before you turn 25. You can book an appointment as soon as you get the invite.
Your cervical screening result will help decide when you are next invited for cervical screening.
You may be invited:
- every year
- every 3 years
- every 5 years
- straight to colposcopy for more tests
Cervical screening aims to identify whether you are at higher risk of developing cervical cell changes or cervical cancer. This means you can get any care or treatment you need early.
England, Scotland and Wales now use HPV primary screening, which is even better as it is based on your individual risk. This means how frequently you are invited for cervical screening is based on your last result and within a timeframe that is safe for you.
See a GP if you’re worried about symptoms of cervical cancer such as:
- bleeding between periods, during or after sex, or after you have been through the menopause
- unusual vaginal discharge
Do not wait until your next cervical screening appointment.