Lisbon, Portugal: The majority of people living with advanced breast cancer give up working against their will, according to research presented at the Advanced Breast Cancer Seventh International Consensus Conference (ABC 7). [1]
As well as the personal costs of being out of work, the new study shows that there is a significant overall cost to the economy when patients stop working. In Portugal alone, the researchers estimate nearly €29 million is lost in productivity over three years. Similar situations exist in other countries too.
This research was a collaboration between the ABC Global Alliance, the NOVA Medical School, Lisbon, Portugal and the Breast Unit of the Champalimaud Clinical Centre, Lisbon. The researchers, led by Dr Leonor Matos from the Breast Unit at the Champalimaud Clinical Centre, are calling for changes to labour laws to enable people with advanced cancer to stay in employment.
Although advanced breast cancer cannot usually be cured, many people live with the condition for years, during which time they may be well enough to work under the right conditions.
Dr Matos told the Conference: “The symptoms of advanced breast cancer and the burden of ongoing monitoring and treatment can make it harder for patients to hold down a job. But leaving employment often brings financial, social and mental health costs for patients. We wanted to study the economic impact of this problem at the country scale.”
The research included a group of 112 working age people who…
