Trial Information

Pilot Study of the Feasibility and Acceptability of Randomising the phasing-in of the Age Extension of the NHS Breast Screening Programme in England

Currently all women are invited for breast screening between the ages of 50 and 70. In 2007
the Cancer Reform Strategy announced that from 2012 the NHS Breast Screening Programme would
be extended to cover women between the ages of 47 and 73. This means that all women will get
two extra screening invitations in their lifetime. It also means that all women will get
their first invitation before age 50. As capacity does not allow for full immediate roll out
across the whole of England, the age extension will be phased-in with full coverage from
2012. Randomising this phasing-in would provide unbiased evidence on the extent to which it
is beneficial to extend the age range for breast screening and whether an extra screen at
younger or older ages is more worthwhile. To date there is no clear evidence on this as no
trial has looked at the added value of one extra screen within an existing screening
programme. This pilot study will assess the feasibility and acceptability of randomising the
phasing-in of the age extension in six volunteer sites in different areas of England.