Breast cancer survivors have lower risk of fatal disease, experts say
21 June 2025, 00:37
Breast cancer survivors have an 8% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared with cancer-free people, according to a medical journal.
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Research conducted by JAMA Network Open, which is published by the American Medical Association, suggested the tendency particularly applied to women aged 65 and over.
It also found that breast cancer treatments including radiation and chemotherapy could lower the likelihood of Alzheimer's disease.
Su-Min Jeong, MD, who led the team from Seoul National University in South Korea, told Auntie Minnie: "This suggests that standard breast cancer treatments, including radiation therapy, may not increase and may even reduce Alzheimer’s dementia risk in the short term.
“Clinicians can use this evidence to reassure breast cancer patients concerned about their cognitive health.”
However, the researchers said the lower risk of Alzheimer's did not extend beyond five years of survival.
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JAMA Network Open compiled data from over 70,000 people who underwent breast cancer surgery between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2016. They were matched with cancer-free controls to a ratio of 1:3.
Last month, a study suggested that a new three-drug combination could help women with a common form of aggressive breast cancer live longer.
Researchers are hopeful the combination could become the "new go-to option" for women with PIK3CA-mutated hormone receptor positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-) breast cancer.
Among the 325 patients from across 28 counties, 161 were given a three-drug combination comprising two targeted drugs - palbociclib, a type of cancer growth blocker, and a new drug called inavolisib, which blocks the activity of the PI3K protein - as well as the hormone therapy fulvestrant.
The placebo group, which included 164 patients, was given a dummy pill plus palbociclib and fulvestrant
The study, which was led by experts at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, found the median overall survival in the inavolisib group was 34 months, compared with 27 months in the placebo group.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, making up 15% of all new cases, according to charity Breast Cancer UK.
Cases are predicted to surge in the UK by 21% and deaths by 42% by 2050 if current trends continue, the World Health Organisation's cancer agency said in February.
