2012 Publications
Cancer Screening Programmes Research Group
Members of the Cancer Screening Programmes Research Group work on a number of studies relating to breast, cervical and bowel screening. The unit has recently contributed to the European Guidelines for quality assurance in colorectal cancer screening (European Commission, 2011) and to an international collaborative project on evaluation of colorectal cancer screening, the International Colorectal Cancer Screening Network (ICRCSN) (Benson et al., 2011, Atkin et al., 2010, Benson et al., 2009) Current research projects include a study of factors related to testing false positive in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (The Bowel Screening Follow-Up Study) and a large randomised trial of extending the age for breast screening (NHSBSP Age Extension Trial).
The members of the Cancer Screening Programmes Research Group are:
- Prof Valerie Beral, Director of CEU
- Prof Julietta Patnick CBE, Director of the NHS Cancer Screening Programmes
- Dr Roger Blanks, Epidemiologist
- Dr Jane Green, Clinical Epidemiologist
- Dr Jo Watson, Epidemiologist
- Dr Vicky Benson, Epidemiologist
- Ms Kath Moser, Senior Researcher
- Ms Maria MacGregor, Data Manager
- Mr Keith Shaw, Database Programmer
If you would like more information on the work of the Cancer Screening Programmes Research Group, please contact Jane Green (general enquiries), Jo Watson (Bowel Screening Follow-Up Study), or Kath Moser (NHSBSP Age Extension Trial)
See publications for the Cancer Screening Programmes Research Group.
December 2011
Current research:
The Bowel Screening Follow-up Study: Jane Green, Jo Watson
The Bowel Screening Follow-Up Study is working alongside the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to investigate the characteristics of people who have a positive screening test result, but who do not have bowel cancer found on further tests. The aim of this project is to provide information which may help to improve the management of people who test `false positive’ within the screening programme. More information about the study can be found on the study website.
NHSBSP Age Extension Trial: Valerie Beral, Kath Moser, Julietta Patnick
The NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) routinely invites women aged 50-70 for breast cancer screening every 3 years. In 2007 the Cancer Reform Strategy announced that the age range would be extended to 47-73 years. As resources and capacity were insufficient for immediate extension to all women in these new age groups, the age extension has to be phased-in. In January 2011 the Department of Health announced in Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer that phasing-in would continue until at least 2016. This phased expansion provides a unique opportunity to assess the effects of adding an extra screening invitation to an existing screening programme. Since resources are insufficient to offer all women an extra screen the best way of getting reliable information is to determine at random who will get an additional invitation, and then to monitor the effects using linkage of routine records. A pilot study to assess the feasibility and acceptability of randomisation found no major problems (Moser et al., 2011). The NHSBSP Age Extension Trial is taking place in almost all NHSBSP screening units in England. Women will be followed-up for at least 10 years. Further details of the trial can be found here.
Monitoring of post-colonoscopy complications in the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme: Vicky Benson, Jane Green
The aim of this study is to combine NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme data, Hospital Admissions data (Hospital Episode statistics) and Office for National Statistics mortality data in order to review the rate of post colonoscopy complications in those undergoing a colonoscopy as part of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme; and to compare these rates to the current standards. Any adverse effects identified are to be compared to the numbers of cancers diagnosed by the programme and to estimates of increased survival due to early diagnosis. This is a data linkage study in collaboration with the NHS Research Capability Programme.
Screening programmes performance measurement: Roger Blanks
Roger Blanks has a background in medical physics and a PhD in occupational epidemiology. He has been involved in the evaluation of national screening programmes since 1994. His primary interest is in the performance of screening programmes with the development of methods to increase the benefit and reduce the harms of screening. Many of the methods he has developed are in use in both the breast screening and cervical screening programmes. Notable methods in the breast screening programme include the development of the standardised detection ratio (SDR), the PPV-referral diagram and research into the effectiveness of double reading and two-view mammography. These methods have led to substantial increases in the invasive cancer detection rates achieved by the national programme. His current interest also includes performance measurement within the bowel cancer screening programme together with a continued interest in breast and cervical cancer screening.
