Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of lowering the breast cancer screening age to help prevent the late diagnosis of breast cancer.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) awaits the publication of the Age Extension Trial before a recommendation can be made to the Department. The results of the AgeX trial will be critical to providing a better understanding of what the benefits and harms are for offering screening outside the recommended screening ages. Publication of the AgeX trial is expected in 2026.The UK NSC is in contact with the researchers and will be able to review the findings as soon as they are available. Any changes to national screening policy are made on the basis of robust evidence where the benefit to screen outweighs the harms.