‘I lived to tell the tale but it could have been so different’, says Julia Bradbury as she shares breast cancer update

BREAST cancer screening saves more than 1,000 lives a year, yet worrying new data shows low uptake in the UK.

A shocking one in three women failed to attend their mammogram last year.

The uptake rate of 64.6 per cent in 2022-2023 falls short of pre-pandemic levels exceeding 70 per cent, which is the NHS target.

Charity Breast Cancer Now estimates that had the target been reached last year, 1,311 more breast cancers would have been found.

Women aged 50 to 71 are offered free scans every three years in a bid to detect breast cancer.

But a US study suggests screening from 40 could save more lives.

TV presenter and mum-of-three Julia Bradbury, 53, a breast cancer survivor, is urging women to put their health first – before it is too late….

BREAST cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the UK.

I can’t express enough how vital screenings are to protect our health and our lives.

I was diagnosed in September 2021 and because I went to my screen-ings, I lived to tell the tale.

There are breakthroughs in treatment all the time.

But ultimately we ourselves are the best tool in our fight against cancer in the 21st century.

Early detection equals the most effective treatment and the most positive outcome.

I’m stunned by how many women are ignoring their invitations for mammograms.

What worries me most is: Have they been since? How many are living with cancer and don’t even know it?

Their future, and that of their loved ones, doesn’t bear thinking about.

I have three children and we didn’t talk about death. I wanted to stay alive and see them grow up

I know we all have busy lives and put our health on a lower peg, but breast cancer doesn’t discriminate.

There is nothing more important on your to-do list than to take care of yourself.

I felt a lump in my left breast in 2020 but the tumour was missed three times.

My dense breast tissue masked the cancerous mass on the scans and made the tumour more difficult to find.

On a mammogram, dense breast tissue appears as a solid white area, which makes it difficult to see through.

Simple, not scary

Almost half of women over 40 have dense breasts like me, and it increases your risk of breast cancer.

You won’t be told if you have dense breasts unless you ask.

So cancer might be missed like mine was.

My consultant later told me that it’s like looking for a snowflake in a snowstorm.

He suggested I get an ultrasound to double-check — and that’s when they spotted my cancer.

I had an operation to remove my breast, a 6cm tumour and two lymph glands, followed by a reconstruction.

I have three children, Zephyrus, 12, and Xanthe and Zena, both eight, and we didn’t talk about death.

I wanted to stay alive and see them grow up.

I’m relieved to say that I’m now in remission.

If I hadn’t attended my screenings and listened to that doctor’s advice, I wouldn’t be alive today.

I find that very frightening to think about.

Every year, around 11,500 women and 85 men die from breast cancer in Britain.

That’s one death every 45 minutes.

As with all cancers, the earlier it is caught, the better the prognosis — and screening can help catch the disease before symptoms show.

There is a statistic from the World Health Organisation that says 30 to 50 per cent of cancers are preventable, but we have to find them first.

And that’s up to you.

Having a mammogram is simple, not scary, and your invitation should never be ignored.

It can be a bit uncomfortable for some people but it is all over within half an hour.

I know we are all under a lot of pressure.

We have jobs to hold down, children to look after and bills to pay.

But if you don’t have your health, you have nothing.

AI technology called Mia is being used to speed up assessments of mammograms for the first time, reducing the time that women have to wait for results.

All scans are still checked by a radiologist, so it is not robots taking jobs, it is helping our hard-working NHS staff act quickly to accurately diagnose cancer sooner.

And it could help you, too.

Screening will only find cancer once it is there, so you have to keep checking.

Please, take the best possible care of yourself to help avoid a cancer diagnosis.

Screening should not replace checking of breasts, which should be done at least monthly.

If you do see or feel something that doesn’t seem right, for goodness sake, get it checked.

Symptoms might include:

1. A new lump or area of thickened tissue.

2. A change in breast shape or size.

3. Discharge from your nipples.

4. A lump or swelling in either armpit

5. A change in the look or feel of your skin, like puckering or dimpling.

6. A rash, crusting, scaly or itchy skin, or redness on or around your nipple.

7. A change in the appearance of your nipple, like becoming sunken into your breast.