A cancer charity has welcomed research showing how women treated for breast cancer can struggle to return to work.
The research was conducted in the USA – but Macmillan Cancer Support said it reflected the problems faced by women in the UK.
The researchers found that about a third of women treated for the condition had not resumed employment four years after diagnosis.
The researchers questioned some 1,026 women under the age of 65 and found that 746 were working for pay at the time of diagnosis. Some four years later, 236 of these were not working, according to the report in Cancer.
Researcher Dr Reshma Jagsi, of the University of Michigan Health System, said: “Many clinicians believe that although patients may miss work during treatment, they will ‘bounce back’ in the longer term.
"The results of this study suggest otherwise and highlight a possible long-term adverse consequence to adjuvant chemotherapy that may not have been fully appreciated to date."
Liz Egan, of Macmillan Cancer Support, said survivors of breast cancer should be given a "cancer recovery" package.
She said: “Half a million UK cancer survivors face disability and poor health as a result of the side effects of their illness and its treatment. These can include chronic fatigue, pain, incontinence and an increased risk of developing heart disease or osteoporosis.
“This new research shows the devastating impact this can have on those who want to return to work but find themselves unable to pick up where they left off before their illness."
Impact of adjuvant chemotherapy on long-term employment of early-stage breast cancer survivors. Cancer 28 April 2014; doi: 10.1002/cncr.28607
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