§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if any hospitals in England are using or developing ultrasonic scanning techniques to detect breast cancer in preference to X-ray methods; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergUltrasonic scanning to detect breast cancer is under investigation at the Royal Marsden hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research in London. While the use of ultrasound would be preferable to the use of X-rays, it has yet to be established that the diagnostic value of the information obtained from an ultrasonic scan is comparable to that obtained with X-rays.