Welcome to the Newsome Health Menopause podcast.

I'm Dr Louise Newsome, a GP and menopause specialist,

and I run the Newsome Health Menopause and wellbeing centre here in Stratford-upon-Avon.

So today I'm very excited to have with me a male guest, which is quite unusual in my series, but I'm really excited to have Dr Tony Branson, who's a doctor who specialises in cancer medicine in Newcastle. So welcome to the podcast, Tony.

Thank you. Nice to be here.

Ah, so before we get started, could you just tell me just a bit about your background and what you do

and how you've managed to get to where you've gone over the last few years?

Yes, well, I've been working in Newcastle for all of my consultant career,

which started quite a long time ago back in the late 80s.

And when I first started, I used to treat all sorts of cancer.

And then as time has gone by, we've tended to specialize on particular cancer sites.

And I now treat predominantly breast cancer.

And that's very common, isn't it, breast cancer? It's one of the most common cancers that

we see, yes. So when I was at medical school in the 80s, I was taught one in 12 women

that was their lifetime risk. And then when I was

qualified, it was one in 11. And now some studies I read is one in eight, one in seven. So it's

become more common, hasn't it? It has indeed. It's hard to say, well, might, but it's probably

due to the ageing population more than anything else.

And it's one of those cancers that thankfully the treatment has advanced and changed.

And so the majority of women who've had breast cancer actually have a very good long-term outlook, don't they, in their lives?

Yes, certainly.

I mean, certainly since I've been working in the field, the proportion of patients who go on to live normal length lives

...