As the NHS launches its first-ever breast screening campaign to help detect thousands of cancers earlier, two cancer survivors from the North East and Yorkshire share their stories.

Retired NHS nurse Susan Wilson says her breast cancer was picked up during a routine scan and she urges other women to attend their screening appointment when invited.

It was at her final screening before she turned 70 that Susan (pictured), from Barnsley in South Yorkshire, was told by doctors she had breast cancer. Three weeks after she was diagnosed, she underwent surgery to remove the cancer and was then treated with radiotherapy over two weeks.

Now in remission, Susan, a nurse for 50 years, has thrown herself into the things that bring her joy, including her drama and debating groups, walking, swimming and singing with a group called the We Can Survive Singers.

“The day I was told I was all clear was the day the rest of my life began,” Susan says. “Since then, I’ve been enjoying life and doing things that make me happy – but it could have been so very different had I not gone to my breast screening appointment when invited. It’s just a few minutes of your time – but it could save your life.”

• In support of the NHS campaign, Sue describes in this video how her tumour was detected at her breast screening appointment, and treated at an early stage before it had spread.

In the North East, City of Durham MP Mary Kelly Foy is also backing the new NHS campaign.

Ms Foy explains: “I’m a breast cancer survivor. The reason why I’m here today is because I took up my breast cancer screening invitation at the start of 2024. It was caught early, which meant that by the summer of 2024 I was cancer free. Of course, it was heartbreaking to discover that I had breast cancer, but it’s important to remember that the vast majority of women who have a screening won’t have it.

“When you receive your invitation, please don’t put it off. It could just save your life.”

Supported by leading charity Breast Cancer Now, the NHS campaign highlights the benefits of screening and encourages more women to make the most of regular mammograms, as figures show more than four in 10 (46.3%) invited for the first time don’t act on their invitation.

If screening attendance could be improved to 80% of those eligible next year (2025/26), nearly a million more women (around 925,000) could be screened, compared to 2022/23 – with over 7,500 additional breast cancers detected at an earlier stage, when they are more treatable, the NHS estimates.

Susan and Mary’s call for women from this region to attend their mammogram appointment when invited, is backed by two senior NHS screening staff from this region.

Joanne Brand, Lead Radiographer at Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, says: “Screening can pick up a cancer before you have any signs or symptoms – the sooner breast cancer is diagnosed the more effective treatment is likely to be.

“Your local breast screening unit is always happy to help with any queries or happy to rearrange your appointment to a more convenient time; we at Gateshead now offer the ability to change this online. When you receive your invitation, please attend – it might save your life.”

Helen Clyde, Senior Radiographer at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, adds: “Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in the UK and our chances of developing it increase as we get older. NHS breast screening picks up breast cancers that you wouldn’t know are there.

“Your screening appointment is a quick way to get your breast checked. Using our service and regularly checking your own breasts is the best way to ensure unusual changes are identified as early as possible and treated effectively.”

The NHS breast cancer screening campaign features a new advert across TV, radio and online which highlights that screening can detect any cancers as early as possible, while providing reassurance and relief to millions of women who get the all-clear. Cancer Research UK has also voiced their support for the campaign.

NHS national cancer director Dame Cally Palmer hopes the opportunity to hear the stories of other women through the campaign will reassure women and remind them why screening is so important.

“Cancer survival is at an all-time high in England thanks to a real focus on early detection – and we want hundreds of thousands more women to access screening so that any breast cancers can be spotted as early as possible to help save more lives,”  Dame Cally says.

Last year alone, NHS breast screening services detected cancers in 18,942 women across England, which otherwise may not have been diagnosed or treated until a later stage, and the most comprehensive review to date found around 1,300 deaths are prevented each year by the breast screening programme.