Breast cancer

The Southern District Health Board should not have refused to release the report which sparked an urgent review of some breast cancer diagnoses last year, ombudsman Ron Paterson says.

A British investigation into breast-screening which found a concerning rate of over-diagnosis indicates about 180 women will be treated unnecessarily each year in New Zealand, University of Otago cancer-screening authority Associate Prof Brian Cox says.

The Southern District Health Board's breast-screening programme is still receiving external support, a report to the hospital advisory committee meeting today says.

A common childhood virus may significantly boost the risk of breast cancer, according to researchers who think infection with it late in life may be a trigger for some of the cancers.

Genes that make women more susceptible to breast cancer don't have any link to lifestyle factors that also raise their risk, a new study says.

Research suggests Maori women are more likely to get breast cancer than European, Asian or Pacific women despite a tendency to give birth earlier and have more children - factors that normally reduce breast cancer rates.

The Ministry of Health is finalising its "initial investigation" into possible delays in breast-cancer diagnosis at Southern District Health Board, and expects to have a clearer picture next week, a ministry statement says.

An internal audit into the Southern District Health Board's breast screening programme had identified possible delays in diagnosing breast cancer in 28 women over a three-year period, Ministry of Health chief medical officer Dr Don Mackie said.

New breast-screening television commercials to air next month will be aimed at Maori and Pacific women.

Poor leadership and a "watered-down" monitoring process are undermining New Zealand's breast screening programme, University of Otago associate Prof Brian Cox says.