HER2-CNS SURVEILLANCE study awarded funding by Make 2nds Count

HER2-CNS SURVEILLANCE - A new research study funded by Make 2nds Count.

Make 2nds Count is proud to announce that £219,560 in research funding, across 3 years, has been awarded to a new study taking place across the UK & Ireland investigating screening secondary breast cancer patients for brain metastases before they become symptomatic. Recruitment of patients will start in 2024.

HER2-positive secondary breast cancer patients have a higher risk of developing brain metastases. Treating brain metastases early, when no symptoms are present, is associated with better survival outcomes. However, the current standard of care is that if no symptoms of brain metastases are present, patients will not have regular MRI brain scans for early brain metastases detection.  

The HER2-CNS SURVEILLANCE study aims to investigate the feasibility of randomising women and men with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer to Central Nervous System (CNS) surveillance. The Study team will recruit HER2-positive secondary breast cancer patients with no symptoms of brain metastases, conduct an initial MRI brain scan and then randomise patients into two groups: one that will receive 6-monthly MRI brain scans for 1-year (to see if brain metastases are present, but not causing symptoms) and another who will not receive additional scans (the current standard of care). 

The study will investigate if it is acceptable to patients to be recruited into a study of this nature and the feasibility of conducting initial and follow up MRI scans - a vital step in enabling a future a larger study which will explore the benefits to patients of having regular scans of the brain to detect brain metastases and how this might improve patient outcomes. The study will include interviews with eligible participants to discuss attitudes towards the study, barriers to recruitment and if randomisation was a barrier or facilitator to enrollment. The Sussex Health Outcomes, Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C) Group at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School will be responsible for the qualitative research themes of the study.     

The HER2-CNS SURVEILLANCE study initially aims to recruit 69 patients from 6 different cancer centres across the UK (Liverpool, Birmingham, London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff) and one in The Republic of Ireland (Dublin). The study is anticipated to last 36 months and will begin in later this year. 

The Co-Chief Investigators of this study are Professor Carlo Palmieri, Professor of Translational Oncology at The University of Liverpool and a Consultant in Medical Oncology at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool and Dr Sara Meade a Consultant Oncologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Carlo Palmieri said: “I am really pleased that we will be able to launch this important research into metastatic breast cancer. It will set out to discover if regular brain scanning of those with secondary breast cancer is a viable and useful option when monitoring this cohort of patients. We are very grateful to Make 2nds Count for recognising how useful this research will be.”