What is involved in taking part

The Breakthrough Generations Study will involve 100,000 women, aged 18 years or older. Those taking part in the study are asked to fill out a detailed questionnaire and provide a blood sample.

Can I take part?

Any woman aged 18 years or older, resident in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or Channel Islands can take part in the study.

If you are interested to join, you can request an information pack to decide whether you wish to take part, by sending an online request or by telephoning 0870 242 4485.

Questionnaires

If you agree to take part in the study, you will be sent a participation pack containing the questionnaire to complete. The questionnaire asks about various factors in your life that might be connected with risk of breast cancer – for instance asking you about:

  • How many children you have had

  • What age you were at their births

  • Whether and when you have taken the oral contraceptive pill

  • Whether you have had breast disease

It will also include a form on which you could write the names of any family members or friends you think might be interested in joining the study. You will be asked to fill in the questionnaire and return it to the study team at The Institute of Cancer Research. The questionnaire information will be stored under the custodianship of The Institute of Cancer Research and kept strictly confidential and seen only by the study team.

Blood samples

We would also wish to obtain a blood sample from you. You would not need to come to The Institute for this. The blood sample will be analysed to obtain information about hormonal, family (genetic) and other factors that might influence the risk of breast cancer.

Follow-up

Periodically, in the future you will be invited to fill in a follow-up questionnaire and provide another blood sample to see how the factors we are investigating change over time.

Can men take part?

The design of the study is not suitable to find causes of breast cancer in men. Therefore the study is solely for women. However, we are now starting, in parallel with the Generations study, a large investigation of the causation of breast cancer in men. The design, unlike that for the Generations study, is based on men who are specifically approached to take part because they have had breast cancer, rather than volunteers from the general population.

More information on male breast cancer.