Breast cancer mortality rates have dropped 10 percent in five years, according to the latest analysis of data by Cancer Research UK.

In 2015, 35 women out of every 100,000 in the UK died from the disease, while, in 2010, the figure was 39 women per 100,000.

According to the charity, greater understanding of the genetic drivers of breast cancer, alongside the availability of new drugs and surgical techniques, has contributed to the decline.

Also, women and doctors are better informed about risk factors and how to reduce the chances of developing the disease, and there is greater awareness of its signs and symptoms, which has led to earlier diagnoses, when treatment has a much greater chance of success.

Much of this can also be said for other cancers, driving a five percent decrease in overall cancer mortality between 2010 and 2015. “Considerable decreases” have been observed across the four most common cancer types of breast, prostate, lung and bowel, which account for more than half of all cancer cases, the charity noted.

On the downside, it stressed that survival remains “stubbornly low” in cancers of the pancreas, brain and oesophagus, highlighting the urgent need for more research to improve the outlook for patients.