MedWire News: Experts have identified the main knowledge gaps and future research priorities that could have the greatest impact on the lives of women with breast cancer.

Breast cancer treatment has improved greatly over the past 20 years and has led to significant improvements in the quality of life and life expectancy of women with the disease.

However, the Breast Cancer Campaign explains that of the 44,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK, around 12,500 still die from the disease, despite access to the latest treatments.

The charity says that not enough is known about why certain treatments work for some women and not for others, and why breast cancer can recur, sometimes many years later.

In a major review of breast cancer research on behalf of the Breast Cancer Campaign, a panel of UK cancer experts has identified the key research gaps and research priorities that should be addressed in future studies.

Among the recommendations, Dr Alastair Thompson, from the University of Dundee, and colleagues suggest that the priorities of future research should be to identify new ways to predict and prevent breast cancer, predict who will develop advanced or secondary disease, identify how and why breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body and to devise suitable methods to determine the effectiveness of a treatment at an early stage.

Commenting on the recommendations, Pamela Goldberg, chief executive of the Breast Cancer Campaign, said: "Breast cancer research has made considerable progress over the past two decades and vital work is still underway. But there are still significant knowledge gaps.

"Greater attention must be paid to all stages of breast cancer. The experiences of older women and those from minority ethnic groups must be considered, particularly in light of recent research showing breast cancer develops earlier in Black women and their survival rates are poorer."

She added: "While we are working in an exciting age of discovery, our resources are limited. The Government, funding bodies and scientists should focus on these gaps to drive advances in knowledge into improvements in patient care. If we co-ordinate our resources and target the priorities in breast cancer research, we can ensure an environment of scientific excellence and plug these gaps."

The recommendations are published in the journal Breast Cancer Research.