Written question asked by Chris Ruane (Labour) on Thursday, 19 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 April 2012. It was answered by Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 25 April 2012 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Question: (3) if he will consider making it his policy that all GPs should inform women who have undergone breast screening of their breast density.

Answer: Breast density information is not routinely collected as part of the NHS Breast Screening Programme. General practitioners (GPs) are notified of the outcome of a patient's breast screening examination but this only covers whether the results were normal or whether the patient has been called back for further investigation. We have made no estimate of the proportion of women who have had mammograms and have subsequently been informed of their breast density.High breast density is known to increase the risk of a woman developing breast cancer. However, the Department holds no specific information on the correlation between breast density and the five-year survival rate for women with breast cancer.

Secondary information