West Midlands Breast Screening Programme

Screening Histories

Introduction

In 1993 the NHS Breast Screening Programme published guidance on the collection and use of data within the programme. One of the activities recommended by this document was the need to determine the screening status of each woman diagnosed with breast cancer based upon their screening history. Five screening status classifications were introduced:

Screen-detected – a cancer detected by the NHSBSP
Interval Cancer – a cancer diagnosed in the interval between screens
Non-attender – a cancer diagnosed in a woman who has never attended the NHSBSP
Lapsed attender – a cancer diagnosed in a woman who did not attend the most recent screening appointment prior to the diagnosis of her breast cancer.
Unknown – a cancer diagnosed in a woman who is unknown to the NHSBSP

The West Midlands Screening Histories Project aims to assign a screening status to every eligible woman diagnosed with primary breast cancer in the West Midlands, since the introduction of the NHS Breast Screening Programme. This project is part funded by the Breast Cancer Research Trust (BCRT) www.breastcancerresearchtrust.org.uk

Further information