Breast cancer survival rates rise

Almost two-thirds of all women newly diagnosed with breast cancer are now likely to survive for at least 20 years, a leading cancer charity has claimed.

A study by Cancer Research UK found that, in England and Wales, women aged between 50 and 69 – the age at which breast cancer is most commonly diagnosed – have an even better prognosis, with 72% likely to survive for 20 years, while almost 80% will survive for at least ten years.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 1990s had around a 54% chance of surviving for more than 10 years and a 44% chance of surviving for more than 20 years.

However, Cancer Research UK epidemiologist Professor Michael Coleman, who compiled the report, said that the rates for today’s breast cancer patients were predicted to improve by between 17 and 20%.

Prof Coleman said that, today, newly diagnosed women are predicted to have a 72% chance of survival for ten years and a 64% chance of survival for twenty years.

Prof Coleman also predicted that survival rates for younger women diagnosed with the disease would also improve, although not as dramatically as that of the older age groups.

In the early 1990s, women diagnosed before the age off 50 had a 60% chance of surviving ten years and a 50% chance of surviving for twenty years. These rates are predicted to increase by 13 and 14 per cent to 73 and 64 per cent respectively for women diagnosed in the first few years of this century.

Dr Richard Sullivan, director of clinical programmes at Cancer Research UK, described the findings as “tremendous news”. He said: “This is the first time we have been able to predict such a huge improvement in long-term survival figures.

“Women diagnosed today have a much brighter future than those who faced breast cancer a generation ago.”

Dr Sullivan said that the breast screening programme and cancer research had benefited detection rates and treatments.

Professor Tony Howell, Cancer Research UK consultant medical oncologist at the Christie Hospital, Manchester, said: “These results are highly encouraging for women who are worried about their cancer coming back. They will also encourage women to go for mammography since women with screen detected cancers fare particularly well.”

(KMcA/SP)