Sunshine Coast team shaping the future of breast screening

Dr Lisa Hammerton from Nambour BreastScreen.

A world-first study is taking place on the Sunshine Coast that has researchers and patients around the world watching with increasing interest.

Working alongside The University of Sydney, the BreastScreen Queensland team at Nambour General Hospital on the Sunshine Coast are trialling notification of breast density, and it could change the future of the screening process in the state.

Most women aged 50 to 74 should have a breast screen every 2 years. Research shows that having a breast screen every 2 years is the best way to find breast cancers when they are very small and more easily treated. The service is available at over 200 locations around the state.

As recently as 2020, other countries have adopted an extra method at looking at the tissue in a woman, resulting in a reading of the ‘density’ of the breast, which is the ratio of fibro-glandular tissue to fatty tissue. Breast density is less modifiable than other risk factors, such as body mass index and alcohol consumption. It is estimated that 25-50% of women of breast screening age have extremely dense breasts.

While other countries such as the United States have introduced the density reading as a factor in every mammogram, authorities in Australia realised that there had been no high-quality research into the effects of advising a woman about their breast density.

This is where the study comes in, to assess how women feel, in the hope that it won’t cause undue stress and worry.

Dr Lisa Hammerton is a Senior Medical Officer at BreastScreen Queensland at Nambour General Hospital, and believes that the input of Sunshine Coast residents will have implications here, and overseas.

“Breast density is being discussed and researched a lot of late, there are many pros and cons to measuring this density, and the recommendation currently is until we have more information that we don’t report the density,” Lisa said. “But there is a lot of push now for that to change, in particular due to changes in the United States where it is now mandated to tell women about their breast density.

We don’t want to cause unnecessary stress or worry for anyone

“At the moment we don’t know how best to advise women about dense breast tissue, so we are keen to get feedback on how to address this. A breast is made up of glandular tissue, fibrous tissue and fatty tissue. Dense breasts have a higher degree of fibrous tissue and there is a lack of evidence on how to pass on this information. We don’t want to cause unnecessary stress or worry for anyone.”

The results of this randomised controlled trial, which should take about two years to complete and compile, is eagerly being watched by similar services around the globe.

“The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK is one that we know is waiting on the results of this study to see how we advise women about their breast density, which will lay down future policies in terms of screening.”

The response from Sunshine Coast residents willing to take part in the study has been nothing but positive, with the vast majority of women who visit the clinic happy to take part in the program.

Dr Brooke Nickel (pictured) from The University of Sydney is working alongside the team on the Sunshine Coast to collate the data, and says that like all new methods of health care, all factors have to be considered.

“Like any changes in a procedure, you want to be able to try to foresee the impacts of revealing such data to an individual, and we want to find the best way to do this instead of just going ahead with it,” Brooke said. “The recent decision to do it in the US has the best of intentions, but there’s never been a high-quality collection of data to show the benefits of notifying breast density information.

“In terms of numbers we need around 3,000 women with dense breasts to collate the data, and with an estimated 30% rate of dense breasts, that means 10,000 women who agree to take part in the study.

“We will be following up with the women over the next two years, we will be keeping in touch with them and getting their feedback. You want to get the full input of women in Queensland before we go ahead with any changes in how we report breast screening results.”

Find out more about the BreastScreen program at: www.breastscreen.qld.gov.au

Find out about more breast density and contributing factors to breast cancer here:  www.breastscreen.qld.gov.au/should-i-screen/am-i-at-risk-of-breast-cancer#breast-density