§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what facilities for screening breast cancer exist in Scotland; what improvements are envisaged; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Harry EwingFor those women who suspect that they have some breast abnormality, facilities are widely available within the NHS in Scotland to which they may be referred for clinical examination.
Further screening trials of two types are due to start at four centres early next year. Edinburgh, which already has an experimental centre for breast cancer screening, has been chosen as one of the two centres where the trials will take the form of annual clinical examination over seven years with mammography every other year. At two other centres the trials will involve instruction in and encouragement to undertake regular self-examination with direct referral to clinics. Each trial, based on a population of about 30,000 women aged 45–64 years, will be linked to a matched control district for comparison of breast cancer mortality over the ensuing 10 years.