Breast cancer survivors in poor areas at higher her risk of new cancer

Female survivors of breast cancer living in the most deprived areas have a 35% higher risk of developing second, unrelated cancers, compared with those from the most affluent areas, research shows.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, with about 56,000 people being told they have it each year. Improved diagnosis and treatments mean that five-year survival rates are now 86% in England.

People who survive breast cancer have a greater likelihood of second primary (unrelated) cancer, but until now the exact risk has not been clear.

Researchers led by the University of Cambridge analysed NHS data from almost 600,000 patients in England and found, compared with the general female population, women who had survived breast cancer had an increased risk of developing 12 other primary cancers.

They had double the risk of cancer in the unaffected (contralateral) breast, an 87% higher risk of endometrial cancer, a 58% increased likelihood of myeloid leukaemia and a 25% higher risk of ovarian cancer.

The study, published in Lancet Regional Health – Europe, found that the risk of second primary cancers was higher in people living in areas of greater socioeconomic deprivation.

Compared with the most affluent, the least well-off female survivors of breast cancer had a 166% greater chance of lung cancer, a 78% higher risk of stomach cancer, more than 50% increased risk of bladder and oesophagus cancers, 48% higher risk of head and neck cancer and 43% increased risk of kidney cancer.

Overall, those from the most deprived areas had a 35% higher risk of a second non-breast cancer.

This may be because risk factors such as smoking, obesity and alcohol consumption are more common among more deprived groups. A 2023 study found that deprivation caused 33,000 extra cancer cases in the UK each year.