Doctors make huge breast cancer discovery which could stop disease recurring

Health & Fitness
3 Sep 2025 • 3:09 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

image is not available

  • A breakthrough clinical trial has enabled doctors to identify and remove dormant 'sleeper cells' responsible for breast cancer recurrence.
  • These 'sleeper cells', which do not typically show up on scans, can be found in patients' bone marrow and are a key factor in cancer returning.
  • In the trial, specific drugs successfully cleared these cells from 80 per cent of 51 breast cancer survivors, with only two patients experiencing recurrence after six to twelve months of treatment.
  • Researchers found that the drugs effective against these dormant cells differ from those used for actively growing cancers, indicating a distinct biological mechanism.
  • This development offers significant hope for breast cancer survivors, as recurrent breast cancer has previously been considered incurable.

IN FULL