ITV This Morning's Deirdre Sanders gives health update as she awaits cancer results

Deirdre Sanders has updated fans on her ongoing battle with breast cancer.

It's been a few weeks since Deidre openly shared that her breast cancer had made an unwelcome return. Today, she was back on This Morning for the regular phone-in segment, where she gave viewers an update about her condition.

During the show, she exclaimed: "I'm so fine. I feel like a bit of a phony because I don't feel like anything wrong with me. I had brilliant surgery and treatment on the NHS. I'm not even having to take any painkillers.

"I'll find out the results on whether they've actually got it all out in a couple of weeks time. 1 in 4 lumpectomy's do have to have more surgery but I've got everything crossed and I was told it was a tiny tiny cancer so I'm optimistic."

Previously this month, Deirdre announced her second bout with cancer on This Morning stating: "Unfortunately, I've got to have a lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy. I feel lucky, it's been caught early and the treatment is happening very rapidly. This is all on the NHS so I think I am so lucky. It could be so much worse."

Reflecting on her initial symptoms and diagnosis, she added: "To be honest, the symptoms I had the first time were a coincidence and not actually a symptom of the cancer as it turns out. An efficient GP put me on the cancer pathway and I got a very rapid check and treatment. I've felt well, I haven't felt tired or run down."

She revealed: "I couldn't feel anything, it's very tiny so there's nothing to feel. It's purely down to the mammogram which showed it up. I had an ultrasound and a biopsy and it revealed it was cancer."

Under current NHS guidelines, routine mammograms are not scheduled for women beyond the age of 70; however, these can still be requested. Deirdre expressed her astonishment upon receiving her diagnosis and advocated strongly for individuals over 70 to proactively request mammograms from the NHS, reports the Mirror.

"I was shocked. I felt fine. I was so taken aback, I wasn't expecting it at all", she recounted, before encouraging others: "My big point about this is that on the NHS system, I'm not criticising it, the call for mammograms stop when you are 70. I happened to be in a cohort of women who got missed, and we didn't get called. I hadn't had a mammogram since I was 67, so ten years had gone by. I didn't give it a thought. I didn't know anything about it."

Pressing on the importance of regular checks, she advised: "But what I do now know is that when you're over 70, you can request a mammogram on the NHS and you should get one every year. Please, if you're a woman over 70, request your mammogram. The reason I've had an easy time this time and last time is because it was caught so early."

Deirdre has faced breast cancer for the second time, and last September, she shared her thoughts on the matter, saying: "I think people panic at the word cancer often, and they can be scared of even going to a doctor with their initial worry because they're terrified of getting a diagnosis, even though getting the diagnosis is what leads to treatment. We can be so scared about that word, so I am really happy to bring it out into the open. I have to say the breast clinic I have been attending are so kind and caring, they have been so lovely. That is very reassuring."