New guidelines promote fresh approach to breast cancer care

"Among older patients, cardiovascular disease has caused even more deaths than cancer itself," said Ma Fei, an expert with the National Cancer Center who was executive chairman of the conference.

Under the dual influence of ovarian dysfunction and medication, postmenopausal patients experience a distinct drop in estrogen levels, which often results in an abnormal amount of lipids, or fat, in the blood and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, Ma said.

In addition, a large number of patients receive endocrine therapy for five to 10 years after cancer treatment, which is often accompanied by abnormal bone metabolism, osteoporosis, aka "brittle bone disease", and even fractures.

The new guidelines clearly require doctors to use interdisciplinary collaboration to take a patient's level of blood fats and their bone density into consideration before providing endocrine therapy.

They also suggest that doctors should intervene to help patients quit smoking and drinking alcohol, as well as to avoid falls and serious body impacts, in accordance with an evaluation of their overall health condition.

Xu Binghe, from the Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, who has focused on breast cancer treatment for more than three decades, said that by standardizing follow-up visits and examinations, the guidelines would promote the prevention of possible concomitant diseases earlier and extend healthcare to survivors over their entire lifetimes.

"They will certainly help patients to return to their families and society in a better state," Xu said.