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Survival rates for breast cancer sufferers have never been better and scientists are optimistic of continuing medical breakthroughs in regard to treatment and understanding. But the rates of diagnosis continue to rise and the unavoidable truth is there’s still no cure.
Each day, about 40 women are diagnosed with breast cancer – this equates to one in eight Australian women getting the disease in their lifetime. And it remains the second biggest cancer killer of women in this country.
These figures paint a bleak picture, but the past 20 years have brought a lot of advances in the area of breast cancer research and treatment, which has led to a huge increase in survival rates.
“Despite increasing incidence, the breast cancer mortality rate has fallen dramatically over the past 20 years,” Dr Vivienne Milch, medical officer at Cancer Australia, says. “The five-year survival rate has increased from 72 per cent to 89.4 per cent.
“[But] while the statistics show a significant improvement in survival, there’s still a lot of work to be done to reduce the impact of breast cancer on Australian women.”
The “work” Milch is talking about is urging women to have regular screenings, medical check-ups and doing self-checks because, short of a cure, early detection remains the biggest weapon today in the fight against breast cancer. Research has shown that women vastly improve their survival rates when the cancer is detected early.
Yet this message is struggling to seep through, judging by new BreastScreen NSW research which found that more than half of women aged 50 to 74 were failing to have a mammogram every two years. The reason? “Lack of time” was the main excuse provided by women in the study, despite 95 per cent of them agreeing that screening could save their life.
“The survival rate for cancer caught at its earliest stage is as much as 97 per cent,” Professor Sanchia Aranda, of the Cancer Institute NSW, says. “We now want to ensure that it doesn’t take a cancer diagnosis to get women talking about breast screening.”
The future
Despite the medical advances, the incidence of breast cancer is rising. According to Cancer Australia figures, in 2009 the number of new cases increased to 13,668, from 5317 in 1982. In 2020, it’s estimated there will be 17,210 new cases diagnosed, at a rate of 47 a day.
Nevertheless, many experts are confident of continuing breakthroughs, not only in treatments but also in how well scientists understand the disease. All around the world, including in Australia, major research is underway.
In the US, a huge 10-year program called The Sister Study is following more than 50,000 women who have a sister with breast cancer, collecting information about genes, lifestyle and environmental factors that may cause the disease.
Scientists have discovered that not all breast cancers are the same, and are using this information to research the development of more effective drugs that aren’t as destructive as the traditional forms of chemotherapy and radiation. By learning how tumours differ from person to person, they can work on treatments that seek out and destroy specific cancer cells but leave healthy cells alone.
“In 1994, when the NBCF started, 30 per cent of all those diagnosed with breast cancer lost their battle with the disease,” Dr Alison Butt, head of research investment at the NBCF, says. “Today, less than 20 years later, that number has halved by advances made possible through research. This gives us every confidence that through continued research funding we can achieve our aspirational goal of zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030.”
Source: bodyandSoul
