Breast Cancer Network Australia welcomes a government report that confirms the number of women surviving breast cancer has continued to increase over the past thirty years.
Between 1982 and 1987, 72 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer were expected to survive more than five years. This increased to 90 per cent of women diagnosed in 2010.
In 2010, eighty three per cent of women were still living more than 10 years after their diagnosis, compared with 64 per cent in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The report explains that breast screening and improved treatments are responsible for the increase in women surviving breast cancer over the past thirty years.
Given the large number of breast cancer survivors living in Australia, BCNA continues to advocate for more research, programs and services that address survivorship issues for women.
BCNA is also keen to see continued research efforts into secondary breast cancer. Despite the increase in survival, secondary breast cancer continues to develop in some women.
- If you would like to read this report in detail, you can download it for free from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website.
