FUND-RAISING by a group of friends will help families who may be at risk from cancer.

The Christie Hospital's Burnley and Pendle supporters handed over £11,000 for a clinic dealing mainly with genetic breast cancer. The cash will be used to screen women under 50 who are thought to be at risk.

The presentation was a special moment for group chairman Brenda Gibson. Her mother died from breast cancer, she has been successfully treated for it and her daughters have been counselled at a family history clinic run by medical genetics consultant Dr Gareth Evans who accepted the cheque.

Mr Evans said: "This cheque is particularly timely. The clinic receives no NHS funding and its financial resources, mainly from charities, are currently very low.

"Yet we are just beginning to see the effectiveness of target screening.

"Our detection rates are equivalent to those of the national breast screening programme for women aged 50 to 65.

"By detecting and treating breast cancer in its early stages we are giving these younger women a longer lifespan and saving the NHS money in terms of prolonged treatment for advanced disease."

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