Our breast care and research teams play important role in national mammogram trial

A national trial that looks at the frequency of follow-up mammograms for those aged 50 years and over who have had breast cancer has recently finished, with over 70 Somerset patients contributing to the study.

After a person finishes treatment for breast cancer, they have a treatment summary consultation, followed by regular mammograms to check that the cancer hasn’t come back, and open access to our breast care clinic.

Guidelines recommend that you should have mammograms every year after treatment for breast cancer, but doctors aren’t sure how often you should have them, or how long for.

Yearly mammograms can cause anxiety in some people, and research already carried out suggests that those over 50 may be able to have fewer mammograms if they are supported in other ways.

Kerry Rennie, one of our senior research nurses, explains: “Over 10 years ago the MAMMO-50 clinical research study was set up to look at whether we could safely reduce the frequency of mammograms from annually to every three years in those over 50.

“This study involves looking at the frequency of mammograms for women with early breast cancer to find an optimum time, as this has never been standardised across the UK.”

Miss Caroline Osborne, one of our consultant breast surgeons and principal investigator for the study at YDH, adds: “During the trial we found that the follow-up protocol for many hospitals in the country was different.

“We originally set up the study at YDH, and recruited our first patient in June 2014, with Kerry and Mr Ansari, the original principal investigator, taking a lead. Consultant breast surgeon, Miss Amanda Thorne, and our mammography clinical nurse specialist, Lisa Gale, were also involved at MPH.

“This means that our very first patient has been followed up within the study for 10 years, and during that time we’ve recruited an impressive total of 38 patients at YDH and 33 at MPH.

“We want to say a huge thank you to all those patients who made the decision to go into a study like this, which has unknown outcomes.

“They’ve really put their trust in us to go into a study, with all the additional follow-up that comes with it too – with lots of phone calls and discussions over the years.

“When I see those patients in clinic, they always tell me how they’re really pleased to be involved with medical research, and in this particular study a lot of patients were also happy that they didn’t need to have so many mammograms.”

Many patients who come in for a mammogram are understandably really anxious about what the result might show, and some also prefer less frequent visits to hospital.

Zenaida Dagutao, one of our clinical research assistant practitioners, says: “While everyone is different, we generally find that patients are highly anxious before their follow-up appointment as they have their mammogram and then need to wait for the result, which can sometimes take a little while.

“By saying to them that they don’t need to come in for a mammogram so frequently, it can help with their anxiety in many ways, so they don’t have that fear leading up to each individual investigation.

“Another important practical benefit for patients of not coming in for as many scans is a reduced exposure to radiation.”

Miss Osborne adds: “We now have the interim results of the study, which suggest that there’s no difference in outcomes for patients whether they have a three yearly or annual mammogram appointment, although this will need to be officially ratified by the central study team of course.

“In fact, the final results will only be available once every patient in the UK who entered it has finished the follow up, but these early findings are certainly really encouraging.

“This research study has been a real team effort with our breast care radiographers playing a vital part in helping us to collect data.

“There’s a lot of tracking involved in this study, with Zenaida, Kerrie and our clinical research, breast surgeons, clinical nurse specialists, and radiology teams working tirelessly to track the mammograms that patients taking part were having over the years.

“Once the study has officially completed, it’s likely that national guidance could change, although we’d need to be careful not to pre-empt this ahead of the final outcomes. We would, of course, change our practice in line with these guidelines.”

Stella Campbell and Angela Tadd, our breast consultant radiographers at YDH, have supported the trial greatly by coordinating the mammograms. This demonstrates the close collaboration between allied health professionals and research colleagues.

A huge thank you also to all those patients under the care of both YDH and MPH who took part in this study and we look forward to seeing the final outcome.