Epidemiology of breast cancer subtypes defined by ER and HER2 status
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The epidemiology of breast cancer subtypes in England as defined by hormone receptor and HER2 status
IRAS ID
182931
Contact name
Toral Gathani
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second most common cause of death attributed to cancer in women in the United Kingdom. Breast cancer is not a single disease entity, but rather a more complex disease with several major subtypes which have specific tumour features, such as tumour receptors (for estrogen and HER2), which affect response to different treatments, such as tamoxifen and herceptin. There are no published representative national data about factors associated with tumour receptor expression, and how receptor expression relates to other tumour features and characteristics of the women, such as ethnicity and age.
Detailed data about all cancers registered in England are now available from Public Health England and can, for the first time, provide reliable information in a nationally representative sample. To enhance our understanding of this complex disease, we will describe the expression of tumour receptors by other characteristics of the tumours and of the affected women in different subgroups of women. The large numbers of women in England diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006-2013 will permit subdivision of the findings by age, ethnicity and other factors to yield reliable findings that smaller studies have been able to achieve.
REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NE/0247
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion