April 2009

Record fall in deaths from breast cancer

Data from Cancer Research UK has revealed that for the first time since records began, in 1971, the number of women dying from breast cancer has fallen below 12,000. This is despite the increase in breast cancer diagnosis, up by more than 50% in the last 25 years.
Cancer Research UK data showed that in 2007, 11,990 women died from breast cancer in the UK. In 1971, the figure was 12,472. That figure rose to a peak in 1989 with 15,625 women dying from the disease, but since then figures have been falling, apart from a small rise in 2005.
The fall in deaths is thought to be due to a range of factors including the introduction of the NHS Breast Screening Programme in 1988, breast awareness among women and improved treatments given in addition to surgery, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatments, used to try and prevent the disease from coming back.
Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, said: "It's incredibly encouraging to see fewer women dying from breast cancer now than at any time in the last 40 years, despite breast cancer being diagnosed more often. Research has played a crucial role in this progress leading to improved treatments and better management for women with the disease. The introduction of the NHS breast screening programme has also contributed as women are more likely to survive the earlier cancer is diagnosed. We hope these new figures will encourage women over the age of 47 to attend screening and to know that even if a tumour is found, their chances of beating it are better than ever."
However, rates of breast cancer have risen significantly over the last 25 years and continue to rise year on year. It is the most common cancer in the UK and is the second most common cause of death from cancer after lung cancer. This is thought to be due to a number of factors such as age, obesity, drinking alcohol, reproductive factors and to a decreasing extent, HRT.
Also, many believe that improved detection rates may be leading to a higher incidence of breast cancers being detected. According to figures produced by the NHS Breast Screening Programme, more than 19 million women have been screened and over 117,000 cancers have been detected. In 2007-08 over 2 million women were invited for screening and 1.7 million were actually screened. This figure was an increase of 500,000 from the previous decade. It seems that inevitably, this rise in the number of women being screened has had a significant impact on the numbers being diagnosed.

The NHS Breast Screening Programme is currently available to women aged 50-70, but is intended to include women aged 47-73 by 2012 as part of the Government’s Cancer Reform Strategy.

Sources and references:
Cancer Research UK
BBC website
The Times newspaper


Eating walnuts could help reduce the risk of developing breast cancer

This is the claim made by a US study presented to the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Researcher Dr Elaine Hardman, of Marshall University School of Medicine, said that although the study was carried out in mice, the beneficial effect of walnuts was likely to apply to humans too.
Dr Hardman and her colleagues studied mice that were fed a diet that they estimated was the human equivalent of two ounces of walnuts per day. A separate group of mice were fed a control diet. Standard testing showed that walnut consumption significantly decreased breast tumour incidence, the number of glands with a tumour and tumour size and that those that did arise took longer to develop and were smaller.
Dr Hardman said: "We know that a healthy diet overall prevents all manner of chronic diseases. It is clear that walnuts contribute to a healthy diet that can reduce breast cancer."
The BBC reports Anna Denny, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, saying that evidence for nuts reducing the risk of heart disease was currently stronger than it was for their anti-cancer properties. She said: "Although nuts are high in fat (and thus calories), the fatty acids in nuts are predominantly 'good' unsaturated fatty acids.
"Other additional components of nuts that may contribute to a reduction in heart disease and cancer risk include fibre and 'bioactive' compounds.
"More research is needed before it will be possible to attribute specific health benefits of nuts to specific bioactive compounds because nuts contain a complex mixture of different bioactive compounds."
They also report Josephine Querido of Cancer Research UK saying that there was insufficient evidence to show that eating walnuts could prevent breast cancer in humans. She said: "We know that a healthy balanced diet - rich in fruit and vegetables - plays an important part in reducing the risk of many types of cancer.”
Dr Alexis Willett, Policy Manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: “It is very difficult to know which individual foods influence the chance of getting breast cancer. That’s why this study in mice is interesting, but more research is needed in humans so we can understand more about how walnuts may affect breast cancer risk. “

Sources and References:
BBC
American Association for Cancer Research
Breakthrough Breast Cancer