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Study: Catching second breast cancer early improves survival rate

Category: Breast

Women who survived breast cancer are more likely to successfully handle a second occurrence of the disease when caught early, according to a study.

Early detection of second breast cancer, which includes contralateral (on the other side) or a relapse, may experience an increased survival rate of up to 47 percent compared to women who found the cancer in later stages, MedPageToday.com reports.

The finding, published online in the Annals of Oncology, provided evidence to support a survival advantage of regular breast cancer testing for women in this particular population, Dr. Nehmat Houssami told the news provider.

Houssami and his researchers retrospectively reviewed data of 1,044 women diagnosed from 1980 to 2005. According to the study, during the median 13.7 years of follow-up after their primary breast cancer diagnosis, 455 women had ipsilateral breast cancer recurrence and 589 developed a cancer in the contralateral breast.

These tumors were "more likely to be asymptomatic at diagnosis" and may not be detected visually by a lump or skin change.

Some women, in an effort to detect second breast cancer early, have employed the use of lab tests to examine their blood for the disease.