The hormone cyproterone acetate is sometimes offered to trans women and people who are non-binary to lower testosterone. The risk of breast cancer may increase with the amount of time exposed to these hormones. Examples of these hormones include oestrogens, progesterone, and cyproterone acetate. The possible increased risk of breast cancer may be due to feminizing hormones that help breasts develop. The number of cases of breast cancer in trans women was still very small, and these numbers may not be completely accurate. Oestrogen, progesterone and cyproterone acetateĪ recent study found that breast cancer was more common in trans women than cisgender men, but less common than in cisgender women. It may affect how often you are invited to screening, and the investigations you have.įind out more about inherited cancer risk hereĭoes hormone therapy affect my risk of cancer? But you should discuss this with your GP or Gender Identity Clinic. If this happens, there’s a small chance it could be due to an inherited faulty gene. Some families have several members diagnosed with breast, ovarian or prostate cancer. Your Gender Identity Clinic should discuss these with you. There are cases where cross-sex hormones or reconstructive surgeries accessed by people who are trans may have a small effect on or remove the risk of some cancers. At the moment there is no reliable evidence of an overall increase in your risk of cancer compared to the general population.

Research into cancer rates for people who are trans or non-binary and taking hormones is limited. There are also clinics that specialise in cervical screening for trans men and non-binary people. You can also be asked to be called by your surname and first initial, and take your partner or friend into the consulting room with you. If you are a trans man or non-binary person, you may wish to take a female friend or partner with you to the appointment, or request to be booked for the first or last appointment. In clinics such as gynaecology or breast screening, there are often more people identifying as female. You can also ask to privately discuss any preparation that is required before the appointment. You can call the GP or clinic in advance to discuss the waiting room environment and ask to be booked when patients of mixed genders will be attending appointments at the same time. You might experience gender dysphoria if the waiting room is a very gendered environment, and be worried that this may inadvertently disclose your sex assigned at birth.īut there are steps you can take to make you feel more comfortable. Some gender diverse people may have concerns about taking part in screening.

If you would like to take part in screening you can organise your mammogram by visiting your GP or booking an appointment at a screening service.

You will not be automatically called under the current system If you are registered as male with your GP You will be automatically called for breast screening. If you have registered as female with your GP There is no need to tell them that you are trans or non-binary. Tell the radiographer carrying out your screening so that they can then use the best technique, if you have had implants. This is because the x-rays cannot travel through the implant to the breast tissue behind. If you have had breast implants, this may make it harder to see parts of the breast and so the mammogram isn’t as clear. After five years, you should consider breast screening. So you are unlikely to need to consider taking part in screening during the first five years of taking hormones. If you are taking feminising hormones, they take some time to act on the breasts. Ask your GP or gender identity clinic where your nearest specialist clinic is. Some clinics specialise in services for trans and non-binary people. These changes could help improve comfort and increase the chance of getting a suitable sample. You can ask for changes to the procedure, such as asking for a smaller speculum (the tool used to see the cervix) or inserting it yourself. This helps to make sure that the result is accurate.

Remember to let the person taking the sample know if you are taking testosterone and whether you are still having menstrual periods. Some GPs also have a separate register to help remind patients who are not automatically called for screening.You can organise your own cervical screening by making an appointment with your GP, or at a local sexual health clinic or a family planning clinic.You will not be automatically invited to cervical screening. You will be automatically invited to cervical screening unless you have opted out. If you are registered as female with your GP If you have had an operation to remove your womb and cervix (full hysterectomy), you no longer need to consider taking part in cervical screening.

Missing trans woman sai