Current guidelines used by GPs in England for referring women for breast cancer risk assessment are reportedly failing to identify 95% of women under 50 who will develop the disease within the next decade. This finding comes from research by the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR).
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) criteria, which guide family doctors on referrals for specialist care, are primarily based on family history. However, the study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, suggests that 73% of women under 50 who develop breast cancer within 10 years have no family history of the disease.
Researchers compared the existing guidelines with a new risk assessment system called Boadicea, which also considers factors like reproductive history, lifestyle, and genetics. This new system reportedly identified eight times as many women in the under-50 age group who would develop breast cancer.
Dr Juliet Usher-Smith of the University of Cambridge stated that there is a need to improve identification of women at highest risk for early intervention. While Nice welcomes the study's findings, a spokesperson said that current evidence does not yet warrant a change to their existing familial breast cancer guideline, but they remain committed to reviewing new evidence.