Hi All,
I work in the Policy and Campaigns Team at Breast Cancer Now and wanted to let you know about a few opportunities to get involved in some work happening with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about tumour profiling tests.
Tumour profiling tests (such as Oncotype DX, EndoPredict and Prosigna) can help people and their clinicians make decisions about having chemotherapy after breast cancer surgery.
In England currently you may be suggested to have tumour profiling tests if you have breast cancer that is oestrogen receptor positive and HER2 negative, has not spread to the lymph nodes and is in an intermediate risk group of the cancer coming back in another part of the body.
Sometimes a test may be considered for people whose breast cancer affects one to three lymph nodes under the arm however, this isn’t consistently available everywhere.
But now NICE is looking to produce guidance specifically on tumour profiling to guide chemotherapy decisions in people with ER positive, lymph node positive primary breast cancer.
Join the NICE committee looking at this topic
NICE is looking for people with direct experience of a tumour profiling test for lymph-node positive primary breast cancer or with experience of ER positive, lymph node positive primary breast cancer to join their committee as a lay member. It’ll involve joining two committee meetings, reading committee papers. More information on the application process can be found on the NICE website. Closing date for applications is 5pm on 7th March.
Help inform Breast Cancer Now’s work on this topic
We will be submitting evidence to the NICE process looking at the tumour profiling tests in eligible lymph node patients.
If you have experience of a tumour profiling test specifically for oestrogen positive, lymph node positive primary breast cancer we want to hear from you to inform our work. Please get in touch by emailing policy@breastcancernow.org Anything you share with us will be used anonymously.
Scotland
Scotland is also reviewing the use of tumour profiling tests for patients with oestrogen receptor positive, HER2 negative primary breast cancer which is either lymph node negative or positive. We would be grateful of your input into our submission by hearing about your experience of these tests by emailing policy@breastcancernow.org
Thank you!
Holly