Breaking down barriers to cancer screening - Royal London (2024)

What is screening?

Screening is for people without symptoms. The UK has three screening programmes: bowel cancer screening, breast cancer screening and cervical cancer screening. We estimate that together, these programmes save over 5,000 lives every year. Breast and bowel screening help to spot cancers at an early stage in people without symptoms when treatment is more likely to be successful. And cervical screening can even prevent cancer before it develops.

Why are barriers to screening an important issue?

Screening is always an individual choice, but it’s important that everyone who is eligible for screening has the same opportunities to access it.

Barriers are issues that can stop some people from taking up their screening invitation, even though they might want to be screened. When barriers affect some groups more than others, this leads to inequalities that prevent early diagnosis. Diagnosing cancer at an earlier stage is crucial because it means treatment is more likely to be successful, so making screening more accessible to everyone could help to save even more lives.

How can we break down barriers to screening?

Some barriers are practical, which means they get in the way of attending screening even when someone has decided they want to go. For example, not everyone is equally able to spare the time and money (such as travel or childcare expenses or missed wages) to go to a screening appointment at a GP surgery or clinic.

Another common barrier is the stigma surrounding screening. Screening involves accessing intimate body parts (breasts and genitals) or collecting a poo sample, which some people find embarrassing. In some communities it may be a taboo subject, which could result in less awareness, or concerns that taking part could breach cultural traditions and norms. This is why Cancer Research UK work with the communities affected to better understand barriers and how they can be addressed.

On an individual level, some people might worry that screening is painful. But there are things you can do that might help. For example, you can ask for a trusted family member, partner or friend to sit with you during your appointment for support.

For more advice on how to make screening work for you, take a look at this helpful article. It contains information on how to ensure you get your screening invitation, what you can ask for at the appointment plus tips to make doing the test yourself easier and what your results might mean.

What is cervical screening and who is it for?

As it’s Cervical Screening Awareness Week, let’s take a closer look at cervical screening, which is a way of preventing cervical cancer. It is offered to women, some transgender men and some non-binary people aged 25-64 in the UK. It looks for ‘high-risk’ types of HPV (human papilloma virus), which causes almost all cases of cervical cancer. HPV passes between people through close skin-to-skin contact, often during sex. It’s a common virus that most of us will have at some point during our lifetime, and most cases are cleared from the body without us ever knowing we had it. But if high-risk HPV stays in the body for a long time, it can cause cell changes that can eventually lead to cancer.

That's where cervical screening comes in, where a sample of cell scan be taken and tested for HPV. If high-risk HPV is found, the sample is also tested for cell changes. If there are any changes, they can be monitored or removed before they can develop into cancer. You can read more about getting your cervical screening results, what they mean and what happens next on our website.

What else could help to prevent cervical cancer?

Because high-risk HPV causes almost all cervical cancers, preventing HPV in the first place also helps to prevent cervical cancer.

The HPV vaccine is proven to protect against HPV infection. It is offered to children aged 11-13, or people up to the age of 25 who missed their vaccination when offered it, along with some men and transgender people. The great news is that in England, the number of cervical cancer cases has fallen by almost 90% among women in their 20s who were offered the vaccine as children.

In fact, together, HPV vaccination and cervical screening could reduce cervical cancer to the point where almost nobody develops it.