Older women 'underestimate breast cancer risk'

Elderly women are unaware that they are more at risk of developing breast cancer than younger women, according to a new survey.

Charity Breast Cancer campaign surveyed almost 500 women aged over 70 and found that less than 2% knew that their age group was at the greatest risk of the disease. They mistakenly believed that women aged 40-49 or 50-59 are at most at risk of breast cancer, which causes 12,000 deaths every year.

Increasing age is the biggest risk factor for breast cancer but the research also shows that women aged over 70 are less likely to check their breasts and to attend routine breast screening appointments than younger women. A separate poll of 520 women aged over 70, also conducted by Breast Cancer Campaign, found that only half (53%) were aware that they are not invited but are entitled to request an NHS routine screening appointment, with only 14% attending screening since turning 71.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Campaign, said: "We read daily about different risk factors for breast cancer including alcohol and weight. While these are important, age is the most significant risk factor of all and yet women, including those most likely to be affected, remain in the dark about this."

A third of all breast cancer diagnoses in the UK occur in women aged 70 and over and 81% occur in women aged 50 and over. While the risk of developing breast cancer is just one in 2,000 at the age of 29 it rises to one in 13 by the age of 69 and the lifetime risk is one in eight.

Around half of all deaths from breast cancer every year are in women aged 70 and over. Research has also shown that older women are less likely to receive surgery after diagnosis with breast cancer.

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