Personalized Risk Assessment for Prevention and Early Detection of Breast Cancer: Generating Canadian Risk Estimates

Principal Investigator: Dr. Jennifer Brooks

Affiliation: Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Start Year: 2020

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer death in Canadian women. A woman faces a one in eight chance of developing the disease in her lifetime. Currently, most provinces in Canada recommend that women aged 50 to 74 have a mammogram every 2 to 3 years. Risk stratified screening seeks to maximize the benefits and reduce harms of screening, by screening women based on their estimated risk of disease. Risk predication tools like the Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm (BOADICEA) are used to estimate a women’s risk of breast cancer. The risk of breast cancer varies by geographical region, as does the distribution of lifestyle/hormonal risk factors. Understanding this information is important for accurate risk predication in specific populations. Our first objective is to customize BOADICEA to the Canadian context using CanPath data. Our second objective is to assess whether BOADICEA accurately predicts breast cancer risk in Canadian women. This information can then be used to improve breast cancer screening programs.