News & Stories
Autumn 2026 Participant Newsletter
Breast screening can find signs of breast cancer at an early stage before there are any signs or symptoms. Some breast cancers are diagnosed between screening visits usually because women notice new signs or symptoms before their next appointment is due. These can have a poorer prognosis than breast cancers detected by screening.
Understanding breast cancers found between screening visits
Using data from the Breast Cancer Now Generations Study, we compared women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between their screening appointments with women whose cancers were found at screening. Our key findings were:
Breast features and tissue: Women with the highest breast density (meaning their breasts appeared whiter on a mammogram) and women who had previously been diagnosed with a benign breast condition, were more likely to have a cancer found between screening visits rather than by screening.
Weight: breast cancers found between screening visits were less common among women who were overweight rather than a normal weight.
Menopausal factors: breast cancers found between screening visits were more common among women using menopausal hormone therapy than among women who had not used it, and among women who went through menopause after age 55 than among those who experienced menopause before age 50.
These findings may help support recommendations for more personalised screening in the future, such as additional imaging or more frequent screening for some women. The aim is to reduce the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer between screening visits.
We are very grateful to all the women in the Breast Cancer Now Generations Study whose contributions made this work possible.