Breast cancer is on the increase

A report by the charity Breast Cancer Care warns that there will be a crisis in service provision in the next 30 years unless action is taken now.

Planning and investment is urgently needed now to ensure that the UK has the infrastructure in place to care for people with breast cancer. Anna Wood

And it says the government must undertake an urgent review on how to improve services.

The findings are based on a survey of over 50 cancer experts.

Report author Anna Wood said: "Planning and investment is urgently needed now to ensure that the UK has the infrastructure in place to care for people with breast cancer.

"Facilities, treatments and skilled health care professionals must be planned now for the future or breast cancer patients, particularly older women, will not get the medical services and community support they need."

Older patients

The report says cancer experts are particularly concerned at the potential lack of services for older women with breast cancer.

Less than half believe cancer treatment facilities will be adequate to cope with demand in the next 30 years.

And 80% feel there will be too few specialist staff to deal with people who are likely to have multiple long-term conditions.

There was also widespread concern about a lack of palliative care, both in hospices and at home.

Samia al Qadhi, chief executive of Breast Cancer Care said: "Older patients, who are already frail, may require longer in-patient stays or increased care at home to recover from radiotherapy or chemotherapy treatment.

"Older women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer and together with an ageing population and rising incidence, the predicted shortages in palliative care paint a frightening picture of the future."

The survey also found a widespread belief among experts that today's health service discriminates against the over-75s when deciding what treatment should be made available.

For instance, some older women may be wrongly considered to be too frail to stand up to the rigours of surgery, or more aggressive forms of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Professor Trevor Powles, of the Institute of Cancer Research said: "Women over the age of 70 with breast cancer respond just as well to treatment as younger patients.

"It is ageism at its worst to deny such women, who otherwise have 15 to 20 years of life expectancy, state of the art treatment and follow up".