Cancer Research, London Found the Criteria Fail to Spot Most At-risk Patients, As Nearly Three-quarters of Those Affected Have No Family

The University of Cambridge and the Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR) found the criteria fail to spot most at-risk patients, as nearly three-quarters (73%) of those affected have no family history, a key factor in the guidelines. A new risk assessment system called Boadicea, developed by Cambridge and funded by Cancer Research UK, identified eight times as many women in the age group who would develop the disease. The findings, published in the British Journal of Cancer, highlight that breast cancer accounts for about one in four cancer cases and is a leading cause of death in women under 50. Dr Juliet Usher-Smith of Cambridge said: We need to get better at identifying women at highest risk so we can intervene early.

Prof Montserrat García-Closas of the ICR noted a balance must be struck, as the Nice criteria are easier to implement but miss a large proportion of elevated-risk women. We need to get better at identifying women at highest risk of breast cancer so that we can intervene early, when there are more options for treating, or even preventing, their disease. The current Nice criteria used in general practice are missing up to 95% of women under 50 who will go on to develop breast cancer. It’s time to look again at these criteria in the light of our findings.