EMPOWER Study: Promoting Breast Cancer Screening in Women Who Survived Childhood Cancer Working Groups: Cancer Control, Second malignancy

A. SPECIFIC AIMS Women treated with chest radiation for a childhood cancer have a significantly elevated risk of breast cancer at a young age, similar to that of women with a BRCA gene mutation. Because early detection of breast cancer is strongly associated with survival and therapeutic options (radiotherapy, chemotherapy) are limited among these women with previous chest radiation, breast cancer surveillance with annual mammography and adjunct breast MRI is recommended, starting at age 25. Most women treated with chest radiation are unaware of their risk and are not followed at a cancer center. Most primary care clinicians delivering care for this population are not aware of the significantly increased incidence of breast cancer at a young age following chest radiation. Thus, it is not surprising that most of women in this high risk population are not having screening mammograms and are not engaged in a regular pattern of annual surveillance.