People with breast cancer are being ‘systematically left behind’, new report warns

MANY people with breast cancer are being “systematically left behind” due to inaction on inequities and hidden suffering, experts have said.

A new global report suggests people with the condition are continuing to face glaring inequalities and significant adversity, much of which remains unacknowledged by wider society and policymakers.

The Lancet Breast Cancer Commission highlights a need for better communication between medical staff and patients, and stresses the importance of early detection.

It also highlights the need for improved awareness of breast cancer risk factors, with almost one in four cases (23%) of the disease estimated to be preventable.

Breast cancer is now the world’s most common cancer, and at the end of 2020, 7.8 million women were alive having been diagnosed in the previous five years.

In the same year, 685,000 women died from the disease.

Estimates suggest global breast cancer incidence will rise from 2.3 million new cases in 2020 to more than three million by 2040, and one million deaths from the disease per year are projected by 2040.

Although breast cancer is the most common cancer, gaps in knowledge continue to prevent effective action, the experts suggest.

For example, the number of people living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) – cancer that has spread to other organs – is not known, hampering the provision of treatment and care.

The Lancet Commission’s lead author, Professor Charlotte Coles, department of oncology, University of Cambridge, said: “Recent improvements in breast cancer survival represent a great success of modern medicine.

“However, we can’t ignore how many patients are being systematically left behind.

“Our commission builds on previous evidence, presents new data and integrates patient voices to shed light on a large unseen burden. We hope that by highlighting these inequities and hidden costs and suffering in breast cancer, they can be better recognised and addressed by healthcare professionals.”