The main aim of this study is to a establish a new cohort of women at an increased risk of breast cancer, based on local breast screening centres, to collect specimens and associated clinical data to allow assessment of integrated methods across a wider range of risk groups. We follow women up annually to establish a resource of serial blood samples and mammogram images. The cohort will follow a similar protocol to the existing EMBRACE study, a prospective cohort study that has recruited and followed individuals with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations through clinical genetics centres in the UK since 1998.
Study objectives:
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Establish a cohort of women at moderate to high risk of breast cancer.
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Establish a resource of serial blood samples suitable for genomic analysis.
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Establish a resource of health data to augment the genomic analysis and to describe the population under investigation.
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Evaluate the sensitivity for detecting early-stage breast cancer over time prior to clinical diagnosis, using state of the art next generation sequencing in serial blood samples from at-risk women.