Study revives debate over breast cancer screening age

Update to long-running study finds screening from age of 40 rather than 50 could save lives

Screening women from the age of 40 for breast cancer has the potential to save lives, according to a study that will reopen the debate over the timing as well as the risks and benefits of routine mammograms.

A group at Queen Mary University of London looked at data on 160,000 women between the ages of 39 and 41 who were randomly assigned either to annual breast screening or to wait until they were eligible for the usual NHS screening, offered every three years from the age of 50.