A study to compare the effects of treatment for younger women with inherited breast cancer and for women whose breast cancer is not inherited (POSH)

Please note this trial is no longer recruiting patients.

This study is trying to find out if the effects of treatment are the same, or different, for women with an inherited faulty gene and women whose breast cancer is not inherited.

A small percentage of women have breast cancer because they have inherited a faulty gene. For example, between 1 in 10 and 1 in 20 women (5 to 10%) diagnosed with breast cancer before they are 41 will have the BRCA1 gene. Most of these women may also have close relatives with breast and ovarian cancer. Breast cancer is much more common in older women, but is less likely to be due to an inherited gene fault.

This study will compare 2 groups of younger women being treated for breast cancer. One group of women are known to carry an inherited faulty gene. The other group of women do not have a known inherited faulty gene. The study is trying to find out if the effects of treatment and the outcome are the same, or different, for the 2 groups. This study is also called POSH, for short. This is because the full title is " Prospective study of Outcomes in Sporadic versus Hereditary Breast Cancer". The information collected in this study will be useful for future research. The results may help doctors to decide if the treatment given to these 2 groups of women should be different.

Recruitment

Start 01/10/2003

End 30/09/2008

Phase

Other

Who can enter

You can enter this trial if you

Have been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and are 40 years of age or younger OR
Have been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, carry the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene and are 50 years of age or younger
Have breast cancer that was diagnosed before the end of December 2007

Invasive breast cancer is cancer that has spread out of the ducts or lobes within the breast to the surrounding tissue, or to other areas in the body. In situ breast cancer (DCIS) is not invasive breast cancer.

You cannot enter this trial if you have been diagnosed with any other kind of invasive cancer, apart from non melanoma skin cancer.

Trial design

This study is recruiting 3,000 women. If you take part in this study, you will be asked to fill out a questionnaire. This will ask you about your family history and other simple questions, for example about your periods.

The researchers will also ask your hospital doctor (consultant) about your treatment. The researchers will then contact either your hospital doctor or GP from time to time to find out how you are getting on.

With your permission, the researchers will ask your doctor for small samples of the cancerous tissue removed during your cancer surgery. This will help the researchers to understand why cancer behaves in different ways.

If you agree, you will be asked to provide a blood sample that will be tested for breast cancer genes. This will be analysed in the laboratory towards the end of the study. This genetic analysis is taken for the purposes of the study and is not done according to the rigorous standards used in a genetics clinic.

You will not be told about the results of this blood test. If you have not had a genetic test in the past, and you are concerned that you should, you could speak to your doctor about this. If your doctor feels that you may benefit from a genetic test because of your strong family history, they can refer you to your local genetics clinic. There is more about getting tested for a breast cancer gene on CancerHelp UK. The information collected about you in this study is completely confidential. This information will not be given to anyone else, including you doctor or family members. Your doctor will only be informed that you will be taking part in this study.

Hospital visits

This study does not involve giving a treatment. So taking part does not involve any extra hospital visits. It will not affect the treatment you are having for your breast cancer.