Screening for breast cancer and other abnormalities is available for transgender people in the U.K., but very few take advantage of the service, according to a study presented at the recent meeting of the U.K. Radiological and Radiation Oncology Congress in Liverpool.
The National Health Service (NHS) offers its breast screening program to all transgender people between the ages of 50 and 70 who are registered as female with surgery and transgender males who are on hormone replacement therapy.
Among the study's 52 transgender people registered at a local screening unit, 15 individuals (29%) were within the eligible age range for breast screening. Only three people (20%) participated in breast screening and were found to have normal results. The other 12 people (80%) declined to undergo breast screening or did not attend the session.
Given the poor response, lead author Archita Gulati and colleagues from the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust recommended that further study be conducted to determine the reasons for the lack of participation and to develop strategies to reverse the results.
