BreastCheck: Advance schedules see women delay tests

BREASTCHECK never publishes advance screening schedules because women with breast cancer symptoms would delay going for a vital checkup, an Oireachtas committee was told last night.

Chief executive of the National Cancer Screening Service Board (NCSSB) Tony O’Brien told the Joint Committee on Health and Children that a three to four month delay in a breast cancer diagnosis could mean the difference between life and death.

Earlier, Mr O’Brien told Labour senator, Phil Prendergast, that a BreastCheck mobile unit would be moving to Clonmel in Co Tipperary at the end of the week.