New research suggests the NICE guidelines GPs use to identify breast cancer risk miss 95% of women under 50 who will go on to develop the disease within a decade, prompting calls for a review of the criteria.
Key facts
- Current NICE criteria miss 95% of women under 50 who will develop breast cancer in the next 10 years, according to the research.
- The findings come from the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London.
- The guidelines are used by GPs to decide who is referred for further risk assessment and specialist care.
- The research has prompted calls for a review of the NICE criteria.
- The issue affects young women in England who could otherwise be referred for early tests or preventive treatment.
Young women in England who later develop breast cancer are not being referred for early tests or preventive treatment because current guidelines used by GPs miss 95% of patients, according to new research reported by the Guardian.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) criteria are used by family doctors to decide who should be referred for further breast cancer risk assessment and specialist care. The research suggests these criteria are failing to spot the vast majority of women under 50 who will go on to develop the disease within the next 10 years.
The findings come from the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London. Their work indicates that the referral thresholds currently in place are leaving many at-risk younger women outside the system designed to catch them early.
As a result of the research, there have been calls for a review of the NICE criteria. The concern is that women who might benefit from earlier testing or preventive treatment are not being identified in time under the existing guidelines.
According to the Guardian, the gap is particularly significant for women under 50, a group for whom early identification of risk could change the course of treatment and outcomes. The research highlights how referral rules shape who receives specialist attention and who does not.
The reported figure of 95% underscores the scale of the shortfall the researchers describe, adding weight to arguments that the current approach to assessing breast cancer risk in younger women needs to be reconsidered.
Why it matters
Breast cancer referral guidelines determine who gets early testing and preventive care, so gaps in those criteria can leave many younger women undetected until the disease develops. If the research findings are confirmed and lead to a review, it could reshape how GPs assess and refer at-risk patients in England.
Frequently asked questions
What do the NICE breast cancer guidelines do?
According to the reporting, the NICE criteria are used by GPs to decide who should be referred for further breast cancer risk assessment and specialist care.
How many at-risk women do the guidelines reportedly miss?
The research suggests the current criteria miss 95% of women under 50 who will go on to develop breast cancer in the next 10 years.
Who carried out the research?
The research was conducted by the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, as reported by the Guardian.