The Cork Breast Cancer Research Centre (CBCRC) has previously demonstrated that women with a family history of breast cancer have a perception of personal risk which is often elevated above that of their actual risk (note: this family history does not include known breast cancer genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 as women with these genes are aware of their risk). Their research has also demonstrated that these cohort of women are comfortable with technology and use smart phones on a regular basis. On referral, these women are completely asymptomatic. Current evidence suggests that 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer and so finding a family member affected by breast cancer within a family is not unusual.
This project is to develop an initiative which will educate this group of women about what is their actual risk of breast cancer. The initiative in this case is a mobile application which is being built specifically for this project and will contain breast cancer educational information for patients and display it in a manner that is easily understood by the patients.
This should mediate the anxiety these patients have about developing breast cancer and may further empower primary care. The CBCRC has assessed all of the relevant mobile applications on the market that relate in any way to breast cancer and have found that none of them provide clear information as to the real risk.
