New chemotherapy drug capecitabine has been proven to offer breast cancer patients a better quality of life, the results of a new trial by Cancer Research UK has indicated.

It was also found to be as effective at preventing a return of the disease as alternative course of treatment CMF, when administered after other drug epriubicin.

Patients were found to have fewer side effects, while those taking CMF were more likely to experience severe effects like thrombosis, infection, anaemia, nausea and early menopause.

“Using patient-reported data was extremely valuable because we could learn what patients find tolerable and where they struggle to cope during treatment. This new approach to chemotherapy may benefit a range of breast cancer patients, including younger women who want to preserve their fertility,” clinical director of the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre professor David Cameron said.

During the trial, patients were followed up yearly for at least ten years to see if the cancer returned, with over 85 per cent of patients not seeing the disease come back for at least five years.

According to the organisation, breast cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK (apart from non-melanoma skin cancer) and is by far the most common form of cancer to be found in women. Some one in eight women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime here in the UK, with risk factors including getting older, drinking alcohol, being overweight or obese and family history.

Having a sister, mother or daughter diagnosed with the disease approximately doubles the risk of breast cancer.

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