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Published: 09 January 2025

New research explores breast cancer diagnoses by levels of deprivation in Ireland

By Dr Philippa White, Specialist Registrar in Public Health Medicine, National Screening Service

We’ve published new research about breast cancer diagnoses among women in Ireland by levels of deprivation. The study aimed to explore whether women living in more deprived areas are more or less likely to have breast cancer diagnosed through BreastCheck – Ireland’s national breast screening programme, and have it diagnosed at a more advanced stage when they take part in BreastCheck.

Why we did the research

In many countries women who are from deprived backgrounds are less likely to take part in breast cancer screening. They are also more likely to have breast cancer diagnosed at an advanced stage when they do take part in screening. We worked with the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI) to explore whether this is the case in Ireland.

What we did

We used data from the NCRI on all women diagnosed with breast cancer in Ireland between 2009 and 2018.

The study explored whether the level of deprivation in the area where a woman was living:

  • influenced her chances of breast cancer being found through screening with BreastCheck, as opposed to through other, non-screening methods, for example through a test organised by a GP for women with breast cancer symptoms.
  • influenced her chances of breast cancer being found early or at a more advanced stage through screening with BreastCheck.

What we found

We found that in women diagnosed with breast cancer in Ireland between 2009 and 2018, those who were living in deprived areas had the same chances of having their breast cancer found through BreastCheck as those living in non-deprived areas.

We also found that between 2009 and 2013, women living in deprived areas had a higher chance of breast cancer being found at a more advanced stage through BreastCheck. This trend, however, was not seen in women diagnosed with breast cancer through BreastCheck in the more recent period of 2014 to 2018. Women with breast cancer found through BreastCheck in these years had similar chances of being diagnosed with breast cancer at an early stage, regardless of whether they live in deprived or non-deprived areas.

Conclusion

Breast cancer screening is important, as it can detect breast cancer at an early stage when treatment can be more effective. This study suggests that the main benefits of breast cancer screening through BreastCheck are being distributed similarly to women in Ireland, regardless of whether they live in deprived or non-deprived areas.


Screen-detected breast cancer and cancer stage by area-level deprivation: a descriptive analysis using data from the National Cancer Registry Ireland is published in the European Journal of Public Health.