Breast cancer breakthrough boosts survival hopes

THE lifespan of breast cancer patients could be extended by almost a third thanks to a breakthrough in research by Irish scientists.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among Irish women. Every year, approximately 1,800 women are diagnosed with it and 650 die from the disease.

But researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (RCSI) have developed a protein which blocks an insulin-like growth factor, called IGFI, which stimulates the cancer cells and blood vessels that feed the tumour.