A ground-breaking £2 million programme has been launched to ensure elderly women with breast cancer are treated as effectively as younger women.
The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) has funded the research, which will be led by Professor Malcolm Reed and Lynda Wyld from the Department of Oncology at the University of Sheffield University of Sheffield, and Dr Karen Collins of Sheffield Hallam University.
More than 13,000 women over the age of 70 are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK, and there are almost 7,000 deaths per year.
Although there have been significant improvements in treatment and survival rates for younger women with breast cancer, this has not been the case for older women.
There is evidence that shows there misunderstandings of the impact of breast cancer on survival rates in older women, the complications and side-effects of treatment and the preferences and perceptions these patients have of the disease and its treatment.
Lynda Wyld, senior lecturer in Surgical Oncology said: “The programme will allow us to establish the most effective treatment for breast cancer in older patients tailored to their individual tumour characteristics and overall health.
“This will enable patients and their doctors to select the best treatment avoiding the common problem of under treatment but also that of overtreatment with the associated risk of side effects and loss of independence.”
The study will also have input from the University of Sheffield’s School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) and Cardiff University.
Researchers will collect detailed information on the treatment and outcomes of a large national cohort of women and aim to design simple-to-use decision aids that will help clinicians and patients decide on the most appropriate treatment.
Prof Malcolm Reed, head of surgical oncology at the University of Sheffield said: “The award of a major programme grant funding from NIHR provides us with a superb opportunity to continue our work to improve the care in this previously under-resourced area.
“We are pleased that NIHR have recognised the strength of the proposal and the partners at both Universities in Sheffield and other universities and hospitals in the UK.
“The research programme will receive funding for five years with the aim of producing benefits for patients in the NHS.”
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