Reducing breast and ovarian cancer in women at high risk

Breast cancer cell (credit: Anne Weston, Francis Crick Institute)

Breast and ovarian cancers are leading causes of death and disability globally. BOADICEA – a powerful, user-friendly, web-based prediction tool – identifies women at especially high risk of cancer, empowering their decisions about potentially life-altering preventive actions such as pre-emptive surgical removal of breasts or ovaries.

Endorsed for use by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the American Cancer Society and other major national and international bodies, BOADICEA is used thousands of times daily in 95 countries, supporting women, doctors and genetic counsellors, contributing towards lower cancer incidence and mortality, improved quality of life and reduced costs.

In 2017, the US National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of 30 leading cancer centres in the US, endorsed the use of BOADICEA in its guidelines. The Ontario Breast Screening Programme (representing Canada’s most populous province) and Australia’s eviQ clinical guideline have also recommended use.

Since 2020, it has been available via the CanRisk tool, which has gained regulatory approval and is available free of charge for use by healthcare professions everywhere. During the first six months of 2021, over 150,000 risk calculations were carried out using BOADICEA.

“[Cambridge’s research has] been critical for developing our resources for people with mutations in these genes… allowing us to provide an enhanced experience to women at hereditary risk of breast and ovarian cancer.”

– FORCE Cancer Charity