Facts and figures on breast cancer

Questions answered by Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at the charity Breast Cancer Now.

Q What does having “secondary” breast cancer mean?

A Secondary breast cancer – also known as “metastatic” breast cancer – means the disease has spread to another part of the body. While it can sometimes be controlled using different combinations of treatments, it cannot be cured. Q What is primary triple negative breast cancer?

A Triple negative is a form of breast cancer that lacks the three molecules that drive the other sub-types of the disease: the oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Triple negative breast cancers therefore cannot be treated with drugs used to target these receptors in other forms of the disease, with triple negative patients being limited primarily to surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Around 15% of all breast cancers are triple negative.

More common among younger women, and also among black women, triple negative breast cancers can be highly aggressive and more likely to spread to another part of the body. Q Why are some chances of survival worse among some breast cancers?

A The outlook for someone’s cancer can depend on a number of factors including the size of the tumour, how early the disease was diagnosed, how aggressive the tumour is and whether it has already spread or is a less treatable form.