Scientists are developing breast cancer risk tools that will help identify women at high risk, as a major 40-year study conducted by London researchers reached the halfway mark on Monday.
The Breast Cancer Now Generations Study, led by the Institute of Cancer Research in London, has already contributed to the discovery of hundreds of genetic changes associated with the disease.
Since the study launched in 2004, more than 110,000 participants with a wide age range have provided blood samples and completed more than half a million questionnaires.
Over the next 20 years, scientists will continue to improve breast cancer risk tools by using artificial intelligence to analyse the vast amounts of data in the study.
The data will also be used to explore factors influencing survival after a breast cancer diagnosis.
In the past two decades, data from the study has been used in more than 90 publications.
Significant discoveries include the identification of more than 300 common genetic changes linked to the disease.
The project has also found that developing breasts and starting periods at a younger age can slightly raise the chance of a women developing breast cancer later in life.
Professor Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, co-leader of the Generations Study at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: “We are so grateful to the tens of thousands of women who have donated their time and health data as part of the Generations Study over the last 20 years.
“It is only thanks to them that we have been able to make significant discoveries which will be crucial to preventing cases of breast cancer and improving the care and treatment of those who do develop the disease.”
More than 56,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, according to Cancer Research UK. The disease kills more than 11,000 people annually.
Professor Montserrat Garcia-Closas, the study’s other co-leader, said: “As we enter the second half of the Generations Study, we're going to develop better breast cancer risk assessments by building on the discoveries made over the last two decades into the genetics, social, and environmental factors that cause breast cancer. This will help women receive more personalised and effective care.
“We are also working to make the Generations Study data securely available to the wider research community, to accelerate the discoveries into breast cancer that will help us to prevent the disease and improve the life for those who do develop it.”
