FEWER than 73 per cent of Warrington women take up free breast screening offered to them to catch cancer in its earliest stage.

Presently women aged 50 to 70 are invited for mammograms every three years where their breasts are screened for lumps.

But only 72.9 per cent took up the check last year, a source of worry for Jillian McKay, breast cancer manager at Warrington Hospital.

She did a survey of those who did not attend to find out why.

Issues ranged from not having the time to being scared of finding out they had cancer.

But in 2008/09 the breast team identified 129 cancers through screening 22,679 women, most of which were so small they would never have been detected through touch.

“The targets say you should have about one cancer in every 1,000 women. Here we have 1.93 cancers per 1,000,” said Jillian.

“They are women who would never have known they would have a problem. We have identified cancers of less than 5mm which is tiny.

“The quicker we find them and the smaller we find them the treatment is less invasive. The difference between having a lumpectomy and having a whole breast off is enormous.”

By 2012 the screening age will be extended to 47 to 73.

“It is a 15 minute appointment once every three years. That is not a lot of time when the consequences are so dire,” said Jillian.