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Breast Cancer Survival Rate Soars By 20 Per Cent

Snowbaby

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The long-term survival of women with breast cancer has soared in the last decade, with almost two-thirds of newly diagnosed women now expected to live at least 20 years.

Survival is improving so rapidly - by 20 per cent in the last decade - that many breast cancer patients can now look forward to a normal life span, figures show.

In the early 1990s less than half of newly-diagnosed women (44 per cent) could expect to live 20 years, specialists said. The improvement, to 64 per cent today, is one of the greatest for any of the major cancers.

However, the incidence of breast cancer is increasing, with 41,000 diagnosed cases a year. The causes of the increase are disputed, with some scientists claiming increased exposure to environmental chemicals may be to blame, according to a separate report by the Economic and Social Research Council published yesterday.

Better survival of breast cancer is attributed to earlier diagnosis, improved treatment and increased specialisation by medical staff. New drugs such as Herceptin which have yet to be rolled out round the NHS could boost survival even further, experts said.

Richard Sullivan, director of clinical programmes at Cancer Research UK, which published the figures, said: "Women diagnosed today have a much brighter future than those ... a generation ago. Detection rates have increased as a result of the screening programme. And treatments have improved enormously thanks to the success of cancer research."

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