Woman found cancer after requesting mammogram at 79

Woman found cancer after requesting mammogram at 79Image source, JAMIE NIBLOCK/BBCImage caption, Carol Turansky only discovered her cancer after arranging her own screeningByNikki FoxEast of England health correspondentPublished2 hours agoA 79-year-old woman who discovered she had cancer after requesting a scan from her local breast screening unit has urged others over 70 to self-refer for routine mammograms. Carol Turansky, from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, said she had no symptoms of the condition before being diagnosed earlier this year, but asked for a scan after having breast cancer 23 years ago.Women aged 50 to 70, external are routinely invited for breast screenings, but Turansky wants the NHS to do more to make older women aware they can ask for a mammogram every three years. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said decisions regarding screening for breast cancer were made based on the best available evidence. "Cancer doesn't stop when you're 70 - and neither should mammograms," Turansky said.Her petition, which calls for an NHS campaign to educate older women on how they self-refer for a mammogram, has been signed by more than 70,000 people.The NHS said the benefits of screening are balanced with the risks of different age groups. Image source, JAMIE NIBLOCK/BBCImage caption, The 79-year-old did not want to risk going without checks after having first been diagnosed with cancer in her fiftiesTuransky decided to arrange her own scan earlier this year, adding: "Without the mammogram, who knows? It would have grown and grown."I'm not asking the NHS necessarily to continue sending out invitations, I accept that. But at least let people have the option of self-referring. "Not enough people are aware that they can." She said her husband, Philip, was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and died aged 78 in 2011. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mammograms check for changes to breasts are not offered rou...