Breast cancer sufferers who undergo surgery have been urged by a medical group to have additional treatment which could reduce the risk of recurrence by 50 per cent. Dr William Foo, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Society for Clinical Oncology who works as a clinical oncology consultant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said chemotherapy, radiation and endocrine therapy reduced the chance of the disease relapsing or spreading to other parts of the body. About 90 per cent of women with breast cancer need such treatment but patients are selected according to risk factors. 'The fact that breast cancer in its recurring stage is often incurable leads us to believe that adjuvant therapy is, more than ever, an essential treatment post-surgical breast cancer patients should seriously consider,' Dr Foo said. Since 1994 breast cancer has overtaken lung cancer to become the most common cancer among women in Hong Kong. The number of new cases has tripled in the past two decades, while the incidence has increased from 30 cases per 100,000 people in 1980 to 37 in 1999. Hong Kong is said to have one of the lowest breast cancer death rates, comparing favourably to other countries such as Britain, Canada and Singapore. Dr Foo said some breast cancer patients might not be fully aware of the life-saving benefits of additional treatment, while some might be reluctant to receive it because of concerns about side effects. One patient who survived breast cancer said she was concerned about the effects. 'My friend who received adjuvant therapy years ago told me that chemotherapy had many side effects such as severe vomiting, a serious lack of appetite and insomnia. But the side effects were not as bad as I thought, and my quality of life was only slightly compromised during treatment.' schwartz@scmp.com