Pop star Anastacia has lobbied American officials in a bid to have the age for routine breast screenings to be lowered, but fears the battle is "impossible".

The I'm Outta Love singer discovered she had breast cancer in 2003, aged 34, when she underwent a mammogram scan prior to breast reduction surgery. She appeared to have beaten the disease, but it returned last year (13) so she underwent a double mastectomy.

Anastacia, now 45, believes the key to beating cancer is early detection but she is disappointed that her lobbying efforts could not change the minimum age for mammograms in the U.S., where only women over 40 years of age have regular testing.

She tells Britain's The Sun newspaper, "I did try to lobby for the change of breast exams in America but it's an impossible feat.

"It's going to be 40 and stay 40 as it's too expensive to lower it. It's become a business and there's highs and lows about what it is. I don't want to disrespect the doctors but... That's government in a nutshell. I love them for the great things they do for us, but some things they don't do well for us."