Irish breast cancer breakthrough

THE treatment of breast cancer is set to become significantly more effective as a result of a medical breakthrough by Irish scientists.

One-in-four breast cancer patients experience a return of the illness within five years of being cleared, which means they must go through a range of difficult therapies all over again.

But the test being developed, thanks to work at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), could reduce that rate significantly, saving hundreds of women in this country alone from the trauma of repeating chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments.