After pop star Kylie Minogue announced she had breast cancer in April 2005, mammography and ultrasound procedures among low-risk women jumped considerably, say researchers.

Researchers at the University of Melbourne found that in the six months following her diagnosis, mammography and breast ultrasound procedures increased 30 per cent among women aged 25 to 44, a group considered to be a low-risk for the disease by clinicians.

They discovered that breast imaging in women aged 25 to 44 went up 33 per cent and breast biopsies in this same group went up 46 per cent.

In women aged 35 to 44, breast imaging increased 25 per cent while biopsies increased 37 per cent.

The study found that the surgery rates to remove tumours did not change significantly during this period.

"Raising women's awareness of the need to get screened is a generally good thing," said Margaret Kelaher, study leader, in a release.

"But these findings suggest that thousands of additional imaging procedures and biopsies did not improve breast cancer detection among young women. It appears there has been a situation where publicity has led to many low-risk women using — and probably overusing — screening services.

Kelaher called for better education of younger women about their risk of breast cancer.

Breast cancer accounts for 21 per cent of all cancers in women aged 20 to 49, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.

The authors of the study said that there is no need for routine screening of asymptomatic women under 40 without a strong family history of breast cancer.

The study is published in the International Journal of Epidemiology this week.