Diagnosis and screening research for breast cancer

Cancer Research UK’s clinical trials database

Go to Cancer Research UK’s clinical trials database if you are looking for a trial for breast cancer in the UK. You need to talk to your specialist if there are any trials that you think you might be able to take part in.

Some of the trials on this page have now stopped recruiting people. It takes time before the results are available. This is because the trial team follow the patients for a period of time and collect and analyse the results. We have included this ongoing research to give examples of the type of research being carried out in breast cancer.

When looking at the trials database click on the ‘recruiting’, ‘closed’ and ‘results’ tabs to make sure you see all the trials.

Find a clinical trial

Screening age range

The NHS Breast Screening Programme can help to find breast cancers early, when they are too small to see or feel.

In the UK, women are usually screened between the ages of 50 and 70. Doctors are looking at the age range for the NHS Breast Screening Programme. They want to know whether extending it reduces breast cancer deaths. The age range for this research now includes women between the age of 47 to 49 and 74 to 79. 

Two separate studies have looked at screening younger women aged between 35 and 49, who are high risk of breast cancer. The results showed that yearly mammograms found the cancer at an earlier stage and helped save lives.

Based on these findings, guidance for health professionals has been updated to include these age ranges.

Personalising breast screening

A large international study is comparing standard breast screening with screening based on the risk of getting breast cancer. The researchers want to find out which is better. They hope this study can help lower the:

• number of breast cancers diagnosed at a late ​stage​  

• need for unnecessary tissue samples they take (​biopsies​)

• number of cancers that screening diagnoses that won’t be a problem and don’t need treatment

Find out more about screening for breast cancer

Cancer screening for people with a learning disability

In the UK we have ​cancer screening​ for:

• breast cancer

• bowel cancer

• cervical cancer

Unfortunately, not many people with learning disabilities get cancer screening. Researchers in one study want to understand why people with a learning disability are not getting cancer screening. They also want to find out what could help people with learning disabilities attend their cancer screening.  

Find out more about this research

Finding women at higher risk

A large study has shown that having additional information collected with routine breast screening has helped accurately pick up women who are at an increased risk of breast cancer.

The additional information included:

• completing a questionnaire

• using the mammogram to work out your breast density

• giving a spit sample to look at your ​DNA​ to look for any ​gene changes​

Other research studies are looking at:

• the benefits and harms of giving women personalised information on their breast cancer risk in the NHS breast screening programme

• developing a decision aid to help women decide if genetic testing is right for them and when they should have it done

• MRI scans to detect breast cancer early in women that are high risk

Tests and scans

Blood tests

Doctors are looking at different blood tests that could make breast cancer screening more accurate. These tests could reduce the number of women called back for tests after routine breast screening. Or help doctors diagnose breast cancer earlier.

Researchers are also looking for substances in the body that can help them to diagnose cancer, and to work out how well people are likely to respond to treatment. These substances are called biomarkers. The doctors look for biomarkers in blood and samples of tissue removed during surgery.

Breast x-rays (mammograms)

Doctors use breast x-rays called mammograms to screen and diagnose breast cancer. Research is ongoing to find ways to improve mammograms including:

• new types of mammograms such as 3D mammograms and mammograms using contrast

• looking at past medical records to see if using one or two x-ray readers to look at mammograms can improve diagnosis

• using artificial intelligence to diagnose breast cancer

• developing a newer type of machine that doesn’t use ionising radiation to pick up breast cancer early. The hope is to use it for all ages and breast densities

Robotic breast examination

Researchers in Bristol are looking at a robotic device which has the ability to feel, sense and take pictures inside the breast to pick up breast cancers early.

This is very early research so hasn’t been tried on people yet. But they hope if successful this will be available to women in places like pharmacies and other health centres. It could break down barriers and encourage women to visit the GP earlier if they have symptoms.

Axillary lymph node biopsy

Researchers are looking at a new type of needle for taking ultrasound biopsies from abnormal ​lymph nodes​ in the armpit (axillary lymph nodes).  

This needle system uses vibration to move through the tissue. They hope it will be more accurate and cause less damage to the tissue compared to a standard core biopsy needle.

Tumour profiling tests for breast cancer

Tumour profiling tests look at groups of cancer genes to find out how active they are. The activity of particular genes helps the doctor predict whether a cancer is likely to come back or not. This can help them decide who needs extra treatment to lower the risk of the cancer coming back. 

You might have these tests if you have:

• ​oestrogen receptors​ in the cancer cells. This is oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer

• a small number of ​HER2​ receptors. This is HER2 negative breast cancer

• no cancer cells in the lymph nodes 

• an intermediate risk of the cancer coming back in another part of the body

You usually have tumour profiling tests at the same time as when you have surgery. Researchers are looking to see if it would be better to have them when you have your biopsy. They hope that by doing the test earlier in a person’s cancer journey that it will help:

• reduce the time to starting ​adjuvant treatment​

• reduce the demand on the health care service

• improve their treatment experience

MRI scans

Researchers are comparing mammograms and MRI scans in ​pre menopausal​ women. They are looking at women who had tests for symptoms and who had normal breast tissue on a scan. The research will look at women with a high and low risk of developing breast cancer.

The researchers hope to develop new MRI techniques to help improve measurements that could affect a women’s breast cancer risk.

Sodium MRI

One trial is looking at a type of MRI scan called the sodium MRI. This uses the salt (sodium) in the cells of breast cancer to see what is going on inside the breast. Researchers want to find out if the sodium MRI scan:

• will increase their understanding of how breast cancer works

• help doctors to better predict how well treatment might work

• help doctors to decide what is the best treatment for each person

Women with dense breast tissue

Women who have dense breast tissue have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The density of their breast also makes it harder for a mammogram to spot a cancer.

A study is asking women who have dense breast tissue picked up on the national screening programme to have additional tests. The additional tests are an MRI, ultrasound or mammogram with a dye. The researchers think that more cancers will be picked up at an earlier stage with these additional tests.

Research into treatment for breast cancer

Researchers are looking into new treatments for early and secondary breast cancer.

Find out about research into treatment