PATIENTS ‘BARRED FROM LIFE-ALTERING DRUGS’

WOMEN who survive the most common type of breast cancer double the risk of it coming back if they gain or lose weight round their middle, doctors believe.

They measured the waist-to-hip ratio of 1,317 patients at the time of surgery and a year later.

Those who had suffered oestrogen receptor (ER positive) cancer and put on or lost inches around their tummy were twice as likely to have a recurrence within five years.

But those with ER negative breast cancer saw their risk of it returning reduced seven-fold if their waist-tohip ratio changed.

The best outcomes for those recovering from ER positive were associated with patients whose weight remained stable.

Substantial

Researchers Helena Jernstrom and Helga Tryggvadottir, from the oncology and pathology division at Lund University, Sweden, led the research.

They said: “This study is the first suggesting that changes in waisthip ratio during the first year after surgery impact the risk of breast cancer recurrence differently, depending on whether the tumour is driven by oestrogen.

“Our study also emphasises the importance of considering women’s body constitution in making decisions about their treatment and care.

“As well as changes in body shape

CANCER patients are being deprived of some of the best “life-altering” drugs because regulators are too scared to fast-track them on to the market, research suggests.

While more drugs are being licensed, the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) said the strict regulations on clinical trials and certification are resulting in long delays. The average time from a

being linked to recurrence risk, we found that a stable weight was associated with a better clinical outcome than substantial changes in body weight.” Around 55,000 women and patent being filed to availability on the NHS rose from 12.8 years for drugs first licensed between 2000 and 2008, up to 14 years for those licensed between 2009 and 2016.

Calling on the Government to help speed up the process, Prof Paul Workman of the ICR, said: “Alarmingly, the delays are longest for the most exciting, innovative treatments, with the greatest potential to transform lives.”

370 men in the UK are diagnosed each year with breast cancer.

Up to 80 per of cases are ER positive, meaning the cancer cells contain proteins called oestrogen receptors, which can be stimulated to grow by the hormone.

It is not unusual for weight to be gained or lost due to breast cancer treatment. This can be caused by steroids, the menopause being triggered, and patients being less active.

The study of Swedish women with primary breast cancer was presented at the UK Interdisciplinary Breast Cancer Symposium in Birmingham.

After five years 165 experienced a recurrence and 77 had died.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now which is hosting the symposium, said: “We’d urge women not to be unduly worried by these results.

“Thanks to decades of progress in research and care, most women will not see their breast cancer return.”