Women took up the invitation to see for themselves the breast cancer treatment and check ups that are available to Islanders at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

To mark National Mammography Day, part of the Breast Health Awareness Month in Bermuda, the hospital held an open day to introduce members of the public to the services it provides.

And the message being sent out was clear ? make sure you have regular check-ups at least once a year if you are over 40 or have hereditary risk factors, and carry out self-examinations monthly.

?Early detection is the key and that?s done with a yearly mammography and breast self-examinations that you do once a month. That?s how you fight this,? said senior mammographer Carla Cann, who was helping show visitors around.

The technology used by the hospital now means there is less need to carry out intrusive surgery to conduct biopsies on suspect tissue.

Last year some 390 women were spared surgery on their breasts because they were able to have a tiny piece of tissue extracted using the hospital?s stereotactic biopsy system instead.

Consultant radiologist Dr. Rajah Koppala said: ?It takes a sample of the tissue to be examined. Before we had this system the patient would have to have surgery for a biopsy which would leave a scar. But the stereotactic biopsy system spares them the scar if it is found from the tissue sample that any growth is benign rather than cancerous.?

The system also only requires a local anaesthetic making the process much less daunting. KEMH is the only medical facility on the Island with such a system and it is affiliated to the American College of Radiology.

During the open day at the hospital, visitors were shown a film and taken around the various stages of detection, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer at the diagnostic imaging department.

All women over the age of 40, can have an annual mammography without a referral from a doctor, younger women would require a referral.

Dr. Koppala explained: ?After the age of 40 the breast begins to lose its glands and it is safer to have it X-rayed.?

If mammography indicates an abnormality the patient will then have either the stereotactic biopsy or an ultrasound scan. The ultrasound scan can be carried out before the patient leaves the hospital following a mammography, explained ultrasound medic Denika Reid.

The hospital also has low-level radiation X-ray equipment to detect weakness in bone density and warn of the onset of osteoporosis, again something that women over the age of 40 should ideally have checked on a yearly basis, according to radiographer Terri Farnan.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer amongst women in Bermuda, but it can be treated with early detection.

Dr. Koppala said: ?What we offer is something like a one-stop shop. Women should not shy away feeling that it might be inconvenient. The benefits are much more that any inconvenience. Breast cancer has been preventable over 30 years. The mammograms detect cancer early and there is no excuse for women over 40 not to make an appointment.?