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
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.
Cancer Research UK says this offers "reassurance" to many women but warns more highly-trained staff are needed to meet rising demand. A plan for NHS staffing in England has been repeatedly delayed. Government ministers say this workforce strategy is due shortly.'Very scared' Mairead MacKenzie, 69, from Surrey, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, after finding a swelling under one arm. She remembers feeling "very scared" because she had no idea of her chances of surviving. "But I knew it had to be bad," she says. Mairead started chemotherapy treatment, which uses drugs to kill off cancer cells, within days of seeing her GP.
This was followed by a mastectomy (removal of one breast), breast reconstruction and radiotherapy treatment before seven years on the drug tamoxifen to reduce the chances of the cancer coming back. "It felt like they were throwing the book at me," she says. Mairead is now involved in a patient-advocate group that helps scientists understand patients' experiences. She is grateful for the care she received - and the gardening, walking and travelling she has been able to do in the intervening years. "Good, clear communication about prognosis can make a vast difference to a patient's quality of life, and how they can cope with things," Mairead says.
