Breast cancer survival is norm for early cases

Long-term study finds most women diagnosed have only 5% risk of dying in the first five years

- MARTIN BAGOT

LIVING with breast cancer rather than dying from it has become the new normal, a 22-year study of the disease in Britain suggests.

Oxford University researchers found most women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer can expect to become "long-term survivors".

For some, the risk of death within five years is as low as 0.2 per cent.

Scientific advances have transformed survival chances but mortality rates in Britain are still worse than the European average.