A new study published in The BMJ offers reassurance for women treated for early invasive breast cancer: while survivors do face a modestly higher risk of developing second cancers compared to the general population, the absolute increase is small.

Researchers analyzed data from 476,373 women in England diagnosed with early invasive breast cancer between 1993 and 2016, with follow-up through 2021. The study is one of the largest and longest-running investigations into the long-term risks of developing new cancers after a breast cancer diagnosis.

Over the 20-year follow-up, 64,747 women developed a second primary cancer. Yet, compared with women of similar age in the general population, the differences were far less dramatic than many survivors fear. By two decades, 13.6% of women had

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