Consultant: Breast units no guarantee of improved cancer survival

CREATING centres of excellence to treat cancer is no guarantee breast cancer survival rates will improve, a consultant surgeon has warned.

Late diagnosis was the main reason for Ireland’s current poor survival rates for the disease, claimed Finbarr Lennon, a consultant at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

There were also deficits in screening and inadequate and delayed access to treatments, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy.