A senior NHS Shetland official has said local women were not being “disadvantaged” even though breast cancer screening is only carried out every three years.
Dr Susan Laidlaw, a consultant in public health medicine, said analysis was not needed at more regular intervals and the uptake for testing in the islands was high – 86% of all eligible women.
She added that the mobile unit stays in Shetland for several months, providing “plenty of opportunity” for women to attend.
Dr Laidlaw spoke out after figures released by Health statisticians ISD Scotland suggested the number of early cancer diagnoses amongst people in Shetland was in decline.
The organisation said the number of breast, lung and bowel cancer cases detected at stage one in Shetland between 2010-13 fell by 15%.
A total of 20 cases were recorded in 2012-13, 17 in 2011-12 and 22 in 2010-11.
An ISD report said: “For NHS Shetland, only 16.4% of cancers were diagnosed at stage 1, lower than for any other NHS board.
“This may be due, to some extent, to the breast screening mobile unit not visiting the island during 2012.”
The findings prompted Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon to call on SNP ministers to improve cancer screening services in Shetland.
But Dr Laidlaw said the figures were not due to a lack of regular screening services and uptake for bowel cancer testing was high – 64.5% among eligible patients.
“With bowel cancer, it is possible that, because we have high screening uptake, a number of early cancers were picked up in the first few years of screening,” she added.
“So the ones that are diagnosed now tend to be more advanced, probably amongst people who have not been screened.
“Women only need to have breast screening every three years, and so women in Shetland are not disadvantaged by the mobile breast screening unit only coming up every three years.”
Dr Laidlaw said there was no screening programme for lung cancer so the disease can only be diagnosed at an early stage if patients present with symptoms early.
She added that no one should feel they have to wait until they get invited for screening and should visit their GPs if they are worried about symptoms.