Many more women now beating early breast cancer

Most women with early breast cancer now beat the disease thanks to huge improvements in treatments in recent years, a BMJ analysis has found.

Their risk of dying within five years of diagnosis is estimated to be around 5% - down from 14% in the 1990s.

The BMJ analysis tracked more than half a million women with early, invasive breast cancer - mostly stage one and two - diagnosed in the 1990s, 2000s and between 2010 and 2015.

It found the prognosis for nearly all women "has improved substantially since the 1990s", with most becoming long-term cancer survivors.

And based on those trends, the researchers behind the Oxford University-led study say women diagnosed today also have a much lower risk.

"That's good news - and reassuring for clinicians and patients," oncologist and lead researcher Prof Carolyn Taylor says.

Cancer Research UK says this offers "reassurance" to many women but warns more highly-trained staff are needed to meet rising demand.

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Source: BMJ, 14 June 2023