BREAST cancer experts in East Lancashire have received a stream of calls from worried women after the tragic death of Linda McCartney.

The wife of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney lost a two-year battle against the disease just months after being in remission.

People who have successfully fought the disease have contacted breast care nurses in Blackburn fearing that their illness may return.

But breast care experts today urged women not to panic and advised them to seek medical help if they were concerned.

Margaret Robinson, breast care adviser for the Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust, said: "I have had quite a few telephone calls already from women who are upset at Linda's death. They are worried that their cancer may have returned or that they may have contracted the condition.

"They are asking themselves how can a woman like Linda, who lived in the USA and received the very best treatment, could die from this disease. "But every patient's cancer is different. People should not assume that because she died everybody else is going to die.

"Some women who have had cancer are frightened that they may get secondary tumours. But everything depends on how quickly we can detect the disease."

Women aged between 50 and 64 are invited for a regular mammogram under the East Lancashire Breast Screening Programme.

Take up in the Blackburn area is about 80 per cent higher than the national average of 70 per cent.

Early next month a "one-stop clinic" will be launched at Accrington Victoria Hospital. The rapid diagnosis breast cancer clinic will offer "triple assessment treatment". It will allow women to undergo a series of tests during one hospital visit instead of making several trips.

Doctors will aim for a diagnosis on the same day to prevent days of worry and trauma.

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