Improving equitable access and uptake of breast cancer preventative drugs using telehealth innovations

Congratulations to Dr Juliet Usher Smith (Department of Public Health and Primary Care) who, together with Prof Charlotte Coles (Department of Oncology) and Prof Marc Tischkowitz (Department of Clinical Genomics), has been awarded funding from the charity Prevent Breast Cancer for a pilot study to test the feasibility and acceptability of a remote service to support access to preventative drugs for women with an above average risk of breast cancer. The project will run alongside the PREVENT-breast study, which is funded by ACED, the International Alliance for Cancer Early Detection, and led by Juliet Usher-Smith in Cambridge and David French, Professor of Health Psychology, University of Manchester to develop and evaluate approaches for multifactorial breast cancer risk assessment for women through primary care.  Women identified with an increased risk of breast cancer through the PREVENT-breast study or through usual care pathways will be offered referral to the pilot service for support and access to preventative drugs. 

 The project builds on priorities identified in the Lancet Breast Cancer Commission, led by Charlotte Coles (Co-Investigator for this pilot study), that highlighted the need for ongoing research to enable coordinated approaches to systematically identify individuals with increased risk of breast cancer and offer them evidence-based prevention interventions relevant to their risk. It will use CanRisk https://www.canrisk.org/ which is an on-line tool developed by Cambridge researchers, that enables healthcare professionals to calculate individual’s future risk of developing breast and other cancers.

The study is currently being set up and aims to open in March 2026. It is a collaboration with Kelly-Anne Philips, Lancet Breast Cancer Commissioner and Professor of Medical Oncology at the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne. If successful, the intention will be to run a larger study across England and could establish a service that will support future studies to test new preventative drugs.