Being told you have cancer is one of the biggest shocks you can go through. The coronavirus pandemic and cancer are a nasty combination. All the normal support, even if it’s just a big hug, is something you need but are deprived of.
But the main thing is catching breast cancer early and I was lucky enough to do that. We have had it drummed into us that we should “CoppaFeel”, so that whatever your age or gender you are aware of the symptoms of breast cancer, feel for lumps and look for changes in your breasts.
But what happens if none of that applies and you still have cancer? That’s what happened to me. The truth is a routine mammogram saved my life. I had no symptoms whatsoever but because of a mammogram in November last year, doctors discovered my cancer early. This early diagnosis means that I’ll make a full recovery.
Sadly there are many women whose cancer will go undetected, or only be detected too late. The charity Breast Cancer Now estimates that about one million women in the UK missed appointments for mammogram screenings due to Covid-19. And about 8,600 women could be living with undiagnosed breast cancer after missing out on the screening.
The NHS Breast Screening Programme invites all women from the age of 50 to 70 for screening every three years. But all screening was effectively paused in March 2020 because of the pandemic, and now women have sadly fallen through the cracks. Although it’s since resumed, there are big delays as the NHS works through a backlog of people who weren’t able to get an appointment. When breast cancer is only detected at a later stage, it can be harder to treat. I’m deeply concerned about this, and I urge anyone who has symptoms to contact their GP straight away. But also, those of you who do not have symptoms: please don’t leave it too late. Book a routine appointment and get checked now.
I would also like to make a specific appeal to other women of colour to please take it up, as we know that uptake of cancer screening is lower among this group. Research by Cancer Research UK and Public Health England found that black women are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer as white women, in part because of lower screening uptake. The incredible NHS doctors, nurses and staff will be there to help, as they were with me.
I am telling my story to raise awareness and so that other women can be alert and take up their mammogram whether they have symptoms or not. Hopefully the more we talk about it, the less of a struggle it will be for some people to cope. I’m hoping that by talking about this publicly, I can make a dent in the million women who have missed appointments and help save lives.
Dawn Butler is the Labour MP for Brent Central
