Helena McAlpine Young Women's Breast Cancer Study - Research • Breast Cancer Foundation NZ

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Helena McAlpine Young Women's Breast Cancer Study

Annette Lasham - University of Auckland
Annette Lasham - University of Auckland
December 2020
Research Grant

What is the problem and who is affected?

Breast cancer is less common in younger people - of all breast cancers in NZ, just 10-12% are in women younger than 45. In Māori women this goes up to 19%. But breast cancer does tend to be more aggressive when you’re younger. Breast cancer is the biggest cause of cancer-related deaths in women under 45. As many as 20% of younger women with breast cancer have a family history of cancer.

What is this research hoping to achieve?

We’ve awarded Dr Annette Lasham at the University of Auckland a $600,000 grant to look at how breast cancer differs in younger and older women, and how that affects survival. Using statistical modelling, Dr Lasham and her team will examine data in the Breast Cancer Foundation National Register such as cancer subtypes, size, grade and lymph node involvement. They’ll then analyse hundreds of breast cancer tissue samples to look for genetic mutations that might be more common in younger women’s cancers. By combining this information, they’ll be able to develop a tool to predict how aggressive an individual young woman’s cancer could be, and therefore what treatments could be most effective.