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The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
The NHS change that could prevent 6,500 cancer cases each year
A new study suggests that thousands of breast cancer cases could be prevented annually in the UK by expanding eligibility for risk-reducing mastectomies (RRM). The research indicates that approximately 6,500 cases could be averted each year if RRM was more widely adopted beyond current genetic predispositions. Currently, RRM is primarily offered to women with BRCA1, BRCA2, or PALB2 genes, but the study proposes including those with other high-risk genes like ATM and CHEK2. The study also highlights that a combination of factors, including family history, parity, breastfeeding, and mammogram density, should be considered for RRM eligibility. Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found RRM to be cost-effective for women aged 30-55 with a lifetime breast cancer risk of 35 per cent or more.
The Independent
33 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘Risk-reducing' surgery could prevent thousands of breast cancer cases
Thousands of breast cancer cases could be averted each year if more women were offered 'risk-reducing' breast removal surgery, a new study suggests. This intervention, known as a mastectomy, is currently used to treat existing cancer or offered to those with a high genetic predisposition, specifically women carrying the BRCA1, BRCA2, or PALB2 genes. The analysis indicates that approximately 6,500 cases of breast cancer could be prevented annually if preventative mastectomies were more widely adopted. Crucially, the research proposes expanding eligibility beyond the currently recognised genetic markers. Women with other genes linked to increased risk, such as ATM, CHEK2, RAD51C, and RAD51D, may also benefit. Furthermore, the study highlights that a combination of other factors, including a family history of breast cancer, parity (number of children), breastfeeding history, and mammogram density, should be considered in assessing a woman's overall high risk for the disease, potentially making them candidates for risk-reducing mastectomies. Women in the UK have an 11 per cent chance of developing breast cancer across their lifetime. Medics can calculate a woman's risk of breast cancer using tools which combine the effect of various risk factors. Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) found that if health officials could identify all women aged 30 to 55 who have a 35 per cent or higher risk of breast cancer, and they all went on to have RRM, then an estimated 6,538 breast cancer cases could be prevented in the UK each year. This is the equivalent of around 11 per cent of the 59,000 women in the UK who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. The academics point out that women who have one of the other genes linked to breast cancer, who may be at high risk of disease, could potentially be found by a mechanism called 'cascade testing' – where genetic tests are offered to family members of women who have been found to have these different genes linked to breast cancer. The economic evaluation study, published in the journal JAMA Oncology, concludes: 'Undergoing RRM appears cost-effective for women at 30-55 years with a lifetime BC-risk 35 per cent (or more). 'The results could have significant clinical implications to expand access to RRM beyond BRCA1/BRCA2/PALB2 pathogenic variant carriers.' Corresponding author on the paper, Professor Ranjit Manchanda, professor of gynaecological oncology at Queen Mary and consultant gynaecological oncologist, said: 'We for the first time define the risk at which we should offer RRM. 'Our results could have significant clinical implications to expand access to mastectomy beyond those patients with known genetic susceptibility in high penetrance genes- BRCA1/ BRCA2/ PALB2 – who are traditionally offered this. 'This could potentially prevent can potentially prevent (around) 6500 breast cancer cases annually in UK women. 'We recommend that more research is carried out to evaluate the acceptability, uptake, and long-term outcomes of RRM among this group'. Dr Rosa Legood, associate professor in health economics at LSHTM, added: 'Undergoing RRM is cost-effective for women (aged) 30 to 55-years with a lifetime breast cancer risk of 35 per cent or more. 'These results can support additional management options for personalised breast cancer risk prediction enabling more women at increased risk to access prevention.' Women deemed to be at high risk of breast cancer can also be offered regular screening and medication. Louise Grimsdell, Breast Cancer Now senior clinical nurse specialist, said: 'While this modelling provides valuable insights into the cost-effectiveness of risk-reducing mastectomy for women with a high risk of developing breast cancer, each individual must be offered all risk-management options that are suitable for them. 'Choosing to have risk-reducing surgery is a complex and deeply personal decision that comes with emotional and physical implications. 'So, it's vital women can consider all their options, including screening and risk-reducing medications, and are supported by their clinician to make an informed decision that's right for them. 'It's also crucial that the unacceptably long waits that far too many women who chose risk-reducing surgery are facing are urgently tackled.'
The Herald Scotland
33 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
App to build better picture of endangered skates in Scotland
With the new, free SkateSpotter app now available on the Play store and the App store, [[Nature]]Scot is asking anyone who spots a flapper skate to take a picture and report it. The mobile phone app is designed to make it easier for the public to submit photos on the go but older photos can also be uploaded since the app recognises the date and time the photo was taken. The data from Skatespotter has already proven to be valuable. It was used by scientists at Marine Directorate in Aberdeen to model the population of flapper skate in the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area (MPA) last year. The model showed that flapper skate are recovering faster inside the MPA than outside. Skatespotter app in use on beach (Image: NatureScot/Catriona Webster) Steven Benjamins of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) said: 'Most of the data in SkateSpotter is from flapper skate angling in the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura MPA because that's where most of our contributing skippers are based, with some photos from Orkney and Shetland, the Mull of Galloway and Ireland. With the addition of AI to help us match photos it was time for an app to make it easier for people from all over Scotland to contribute photos of skate and hopefully help us further understand the longer distance movements of these amazing fish.' Jane Dodd, NatureScot's elasmobranch specialist, said: 'We encourage anglers, divers, fishermen and marine surveyors from all over Scotland to download the SkateSpotter app and become citizen scientists, helping us to understand and restore these amazing animals. An army of volunteers using SkateSpotter could generate a much more significant amount of data than a handful of scientists. Flapper skate are generally resident or show site fidelity (leaving and coming back to a site) but they do travel longer distances and we might be underestimating these because most of our SkateSpotter submissions come from specific areas. Imagine being the person who submits a photo of a skate from Shetland only to find the skate originated from Orkney or the west coast of Scotland!' Read More Anyone encountering a flapper skate, either when angling, diving, fishing, surveying or walking on the beach, can submit a photo via the app. They will then be asked for additional information on the general area where the skate was seen, whether it is male or female and its size. Once the photo is submitted, it will be matched against others already in the database by AI or added as a new individual. Contributors will be provided with an update on 'their' skate if it is reported again and sensitive information like fishing marks will not be shared without permission. Flapper skate belongs to the elasmobranch or shark family. Instead of bones, it has a skeleton formed of cartilage. Adult flapper skate can reach up to 285cm (for the larger female sex) and seem to prefer deep (100m+) muddy habitats where they eat prawns and other smaller skates and small sharks. In 2009 it became illegal to land skate in most of Europe which means any skate caught as bycatch should be released unharmed. All angling for this species in Scotland is on a 'catch and release' basis. Recapturing previously identified skate suggests there is no harm to the fish when released. However, common skate are still at risk from unintentional capture in mobile gear such as trawls and dredges.
