EDITED TO ADD LINK; https://breastcancernow.org:443/
I am taking part in a trial for breast cancer research Breakthrough Breast Cancer), but as well as women affected by breast cancer, they want the details (& hopefully blood samples too) for healthy young women.
They are particularly interested in women who are pre-menopausal, breast feeding or pregant. This is the kind of long-term research which suggests that breast feeding / diet / alcohol consuption helps reduce the risk of breast cancer.
One in nine women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, which means that with ChiChi & I (both from over there >>
already in the statistics, there are a fair few of you who could be at risk too. Reasearch is the only way to stop this disease.
All of my female family have signed up & I would like to add as many other names as possible.
The 45 minutes will be the time it takes to fill in the questionaire, plus they send two blood bottles so they can do tests. the blood test can be done at your surgery by the Dr, Nurse (or MW if you're pregnant), or if you're in London at the Marsden. You then send everything back in the package supplied.
If anyone is interested, and willing to give 45 minutes for a good cause & no cost, can you PM me your details (full name, address, postcode) & keep this bounced to the top for the next few days.
Thanks, Rebecca
For those interested in the statistics...
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in England. In 2004 there were around 36,900 new cases diagnosed. This represents 32 per cent of all cancers in women and is a rate of 121 cases per 100,000 women.
Four in five new cases are diagnosed in women aged 50 and over, with the peak in the 55 to 64 age group.
Around 10,300 women died from breast cancer in England in 2004, a rate of 28 deaths per 100,000 women. It is the second most common cause of cancer death in women, after lung.
One in nine women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives. Most of the known risk factors for breast cancer relate to a woman’s reproductive history such as early first period, late first pregnancy, low parity and late menopause. Oral contraceptive use, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), obesity and increased alcohol consumption also increase the risk.
The breast screening programme was introduced in 1988 with the aim of reducing the number of women dying from breast cancer. Originally, breast screening was offered every three years to all women aged between 50 and 64, and to women aged 65 and over on request. From 2001, this began to be extended to women in England aged 65 to 70, and to women over 70 on request. Full national coverage for this older age group was achieved by the end of 2004. In 2004-05, three quarters of women aged 50-64 invited for screening in England underwent screening for breast cancer. Around 1.5 million women are screened each year.
Incidence rates increased by 81 per cent between 1971 and 2004, and by 13 per cent in the ten years to 2004.
Earlier detection and improved treatment has meant that survival rates have risen. Five-year survival was 81 per cent for women diagnosed in **** in England. Survival from breast cancer is higher than that for cervical cancer and much higher than for the other major cancers in women - lung, colorectal and ovarian. For women diagnosed in 2001-03, 72 per cent are likely to survive for at least ten years. Survival is still decreasing more than ten years after diagnosis, however, and only 64 per cent are likely to survive for at least 20 years.
Death rates gradually increased up to the mid-1980s and then began to fall around the time screening started. By 1998 mortality was around 20 per cent lower than it would have been without screening (based on predictions of pre-screening rates in various age groups). Falls occurred in all age groups, but were greatest in women aged 55 to 69.
