Cancer could become untreatable because of superbugs, says medical chief

Superbugs could soon make cancer untreatable, the chief medical officer has warned.

Professor Dame Sally Davies previously described the threat of drug-resistant bugs as severe as terrorism.

But now she has warned that they are on par with climate change and could have 'catastrophic' effects.

In an interview with The Mirror, she warned their increasing prevalence could soon make routine operations and treatment, such as chemotherapy, risky.

Her claim comes just a week after a drug-resistant superbug killed a woman from Nevada.

Doctors tried to cure the 70-year-old patient with 26 antibiotics - but none helped to fight the aggressive bacteria.

She told the newspaper: 'This tragic death is not a one-off. If we don't speed up efforts to tackle drug-resistant bugs, there will be more.

'Imagine a future where cancer is untreatable because chemotherapy is ineffective. 

'And simple ops like hip replacements and caesareans are very risky because of infection.'  

For decades, antibiotics have been so overused by GPs and hospital staff that the bacteria have evolved to become resistant.

Doctors claim medicines including penicillin no longer work on sore throats, skin infections and more seriously, pneumonia. 

But Dame Sally urged caution, advising people to take the necessary steps to prevent bugs from spreading - such as hand washing.  

Without scientific breakthroughs, it is estimated that the rise of super-bugs will cause up to ten million deaths a year by 2050.

In addition, there have only been one or two new antibiotics developed in the last 30 years. 

This comes after a study in October found that mother's milk from Tasmanian devils could help the global fight against superbugs.

Scientists at the University of Sydney found that peptides in the marsupial's milk killed resistant bacteria.  

These included methicillin-resistant golden staph bacteria and enterococcus that is resistant to the powerful antibiotic vancomycin. 

And British research in November found that three quarters of fresh chicken sold in supermarkets is contaminated with an E.coli superbug. 

The scale was far higher than previous studies have shown and pointed to a serious public health threat. 

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