ThP1.7 - Moving to a specialist nurse-led service for genetic testing in breast cancer Free

To assess the impact of a genetics nurse led clinic in breast cancer patients treatment.

A specialist, nurse-led breast cancer genetics service was set up in September 2022 for patients meeting the R208 and R444 criteria. A prospective data collection was performed from September 2022 to October 2023 and included patient demographics, test result and if the result led to any alteration in management of patient.

78 eligible patients, with a mean age of 52.8 (31-90) years. 4 (5.1%) were male. 1 (1.3%) patient declined testing, a further 1 (1.3%) patient was undecided and 1 (1.3%) wished for storage only. Patients waited 1-2 weeks following a breast cancer diagnosis to see the nurse specialist and 4-6 weeks for urgent results. The pathogenic variants identified were BRCA1 (5.3%), BRCA2 (6.7%), CHEK2 (2.7%) and PALB2 (1.3%). Of the remainder 84% of patients tested negative. Altered management occurred in 8 (10.7%) patients, 4 (50%) received risk reducing surgery, 2 (25%) received Olaparib and 2 (25%) received Olaparib and underwent risk reducing surgery.

The move to a nurse-led service has proved to be successful in terms of reduced waiting times for genetic testing appointments and results. It also ensured that all appropriate patients with breast cancer were offered genetic testing, leading to more effective and efficient treatment decisions, such as risk reducing surgery and tailored chemotherapy which could improve long-term health outcomes.