Back to the beginning
Back in the 1990s, there was relatively little known about the influence of hormone-based drugs on breast cancer risk. Some people believed that the contraceptive pill could increase the chances of developing the disease, and others were concerned about hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for treating menopausal symptoms.
HRT was becoming hugely popular thanks to media coverage of its benefit, and by the mid-90s around a third of menopausal women were taking some form of it. Yet few studies had been done looking in depth at whether it played a role in breast cancer risk.
In search of some answers, Professor Dame Valerie Beral and her team in the Oxford Cancer Epidemiology Unit (now part of the NDPH) decided to launch the biggest study of women’s health ever undertaken. Based on analysis of combined clinical trials by Professor Sir Richard Peto and his team, also in the CEU, Beral knew that to find reliable links between risk factors and disease – especially things playing a smaller role – she would need to look at as many women as possible.
A million women was a bold target, but it could be achieved thanks to the unique way in which participants were recruited. Originally set up with funding from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK), with subsequent support coming later from the Medical Research Council and the Health and Safety Executive, the Million Women Study has become a reality.
Read the full story on the Nuffield Department of Population Health (NDPH) website.