Research

Stepping up fight against breast cancer

Academics at Loughborough University have signed a four-year agreement with the NHS, worth £1.2 million, to support the fight against breast cancer.

PERFORMS, which stands for PERsonal perFORmance in Mammographic Screening, was founded by Professor Alastair Gale from the University’s Applied Vision Research Centre and has played a critical role in improving and maintaining the diagnosis of breast cancer since the NHS began breast screening over 20 years ago.

The new agreement will see Loughborough further develop PERFORMS to provide a unique self-assessment scheme nationally, which will continue to train clinicians in the early detection of breast tumours.

With breast cancer screening rapidly introducing digital capture as technology develops, the PERFORMS system will also be switching from mammographic film to digital images to help advance training techniques. Digital images will be examined by radiologists and advanced practitioners on high-resolution displays in breast cancer screening units.

This change means that a whole new range of dynamic training can be introduced, with participants also able to receive training wherever and whenever they like using a range of different computer devices, rather than being restricted to previous conventional equipment.

Professor Gale believes that the four-year agreement will allow PERFORMS to advance further the training available to breast screeners nationwide.

“PERFORMS has already been incredibly successful across the UK and has seen a lot of interest internationally,” said Professor Gale.

“Technology is changing and we need to change with it. The introduction of digital screening should enhance the detection of early signs of cancer and also enable us to improve training opportunities, which is essential in the fight against breast cancer.”

The NHS Breast Screening Programme is estimated to save 1,400 lives every year. One woman in nine will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some stage in their lives.