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Breast cancer can regress naturally

By Carla Bevan on Tuesday 25 November 2008

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Mammogram

Decisions to medically treat all forms of breast cancer could be called into question after new research discovered some forms of the disease will regress naturally.

A paper published in the Archives of Internal Medicine claims some forms of breast cancer are not necessarily life threatening and could be left to heal by themselves. However, we do not yet have advanced enough technology to work out which tumours should be treated and which should not.

Scientists in Oslo who carried out the research claim: 'If all of these newly-detected cancers were destined to progress and become clinically evident as women age, a fall in incidence among older women should soon follow. The fact that this decrease is not evident raises the question: what is the natural history of these additional screen-detected cancers?'

In their survey of 120,000 women only 32 had cancer which regressed without intervention, however, they believe this doesn't necessarily mean it is as rare as their stats suggest, explaining: 'It may instead reflect the fact that these cancers are rarely allowed to follow their natural course.'

Clearly far more research is needed and Breakthrough Breast Cancer told The Guardian today that women should still attend routine mammograms, highlighting the same fact the Norwegian researchers did, namely that 'it is not currently possible to predict whether early changes picked up by screening will progress'.

Tuesday 25 November 2008