Personalising prevention for breast cancer

Personalising prevention for breast cancer explains the discussions and conclusion of a workshop held as part of the B-Cast project.

Breast cancer has been at the forefront of biotechnology and information technology, with progress in the identification of genetic risk variants and the development of individual risk measurement tools. Many government policy documents have embraced the concept of personalised prevention and committed to the development of the relevant supportive technologies and methods.

PHG Foundation held a multidisciplinary workshop to look at likely future scientific and technological advances and create a vision for future personalised prevention and how it could be achieved. Throughout the workshop, individuals, health systems and society were focused on in opportunities, issues, and development of strategies. This report provides a summary of the workshop proceedings.

In the future, it is likely that the landscape of breast cancer risk will evolve due to the current scientific knowledge and technologies in risk assessment and population stratification. Evidence in support of risk-based prevention is currently lacking, so it is expected that a more robust evidence base will emerge from ongoing trials and new studies. The workshop allowed for developments in the field and their likely future impact to be highlighted.

Following further policy analysis there will be a subsequent final report, primarily aimed at public health professionals and policy makers to support integration of personalised prevention into wider prevention programmes.

By Sowmiya Moorthie, Hilary Burton, Louise Gaynor, Tanya Brigden and Chantal Babb de Villiers