Two new research projects will use data from the New Zealand Breast Cancer Register to improve delivery of care to breast cancer patients and lead to better health outcomes.
The projects have been funded through a joint partnership between The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation (NZBCF) and the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC).
HRC Chief Executive Professor Kath McPherson says the HRC is excited to be involved in this new research initiative with The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation.
“The data from the breast cancer registers are a valuable resource to New Zealand. Through this partnership we have had a great opportunity to support two high quality research projects, which will use data from the registers to help provide better care and better outcomes for those New Zealanders affected by breast cancer.”
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the world. Breast cancer is New Zealand’s third most common cancer and is the most common cancer for women. It affects one in nine New Zealand women over their lifetime and accounts for more than 600 deaths every year.
For the last 15 years, since 2000, the NZBCF has funded the development and ongoing management of four New Zealand regional Breast Cancer Patient Registers: Auckland, Waikato, Christchurch and Wellington. These breast cancer registers provide a greater understanding of the nature of breast cancer and its treatment in New Zealand women. The four registers are in the process of been consolidated into a national register under the management of the NZBCF and with funding contribution from the Ministry of Health.
Evangelia Henderson, Chief Executive of the NZBCF says the foundation's investment in the breast cancer patient registers has been benefiting patients by informing clinical practice for many years.
"Now we have a knowledge-base that can provide the kind of research potential we had hoped for. We look forward to seeing what the data can tell us, and what this might mean for the future in breast cancer care,” she says.
New Zealand has a dedicated community of researchers who are working to translate an enhanced understanding of the molecular basis of cancer into improved outcomes for patients, and the New Zealand Breast Cancer Register has the potential to help deliver on this goal.
Associate Professor Michael Black at the University of Otago will use data from the New Zealand Breast Cancer Register to determine past and likely future trends in the incidence, molecular characteristics, and response to treatment of breast tumours in New Zealand. The results will help shape the direction of ongoing breast cancer research.
Most breast cancers are removed either with breast conserving surgery (BCS) or mastectomy. With BCS, it is important to remove all, or virtually all, of the tumour to minimise the risk of local recurrence. The quality of evidence on how much margin of normal tissue needs to be removed from around the cancer to minimise the risk of recurrence is poor. As a result, about one in five women currently undergo a second operation – either a wider excision or mastectomy – which leads to additional stress, side effects and costs for these women.
Professor Ian Campbell from the University of Auckland is leading a study that will examine the excision margins in more than 10,000 women to determine what is the optimal margin of clearance to minimise the risk of recurrence and the need for additional surgery, and how that this differs by patient factors, cancer type, and other treatments.
2016 Breast Cancer Register Research Partnership projects (includes the named principal investigator only):
Associate Professor Michael Black
University of Otago
Using the New Zealand Breast Cancer Registries for targeted molecular research
12 months, $101,909
Professor Ian Campbell
University of Auckland
When is enough, enough? Margins of excision after breast conservation for BCa
24 months, $198,435