Mammograms are the only proven way for finding breast cancers early enough to reduce your risk of dying of breast cancer.

Regular mammograms reduce the chance of dying from breast cancer among women aged 45-69. But the benefit is greatest for women aged 50-69.

Mammograms:

• can show changes in the breast before anything can be seen or felt. In most cases the changes will not be cancer
• can detect breast cancer early, which means a very good chance of successful treatment
• are particularly effective in women 50 years and over who have mammograms every two years
• can detect about 75 percent of unsuspected cancers in women under 50 and 85 percent in women over 50
• cannot prevent your getting breast cancer and cannot always prevent death from breast cancer
• are safe because only very small amounts of radiation are used in two-yearly screening.