GPs’ breast cancer guidelines ‘miss’ 95% of women who will develop disease

Findings prompt calls for review of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence criteria

Young women in England who later develop breast cancer are not being referred for early tests or preventive treatment because current guidelines used by GPs miss 95% of patients, research suggests.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) criteria used to decide who should be referred by family doctors for further breast cancer risk assessment and specialist care is failing to spot the vast majority of women under 50 who will go on to develop the disease in the next 10 years, according to the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR).