lifepool
A new Victorian breast cancer research project
lifepool is a new research project that aims to recruit 100,000 Victorian women to provide information about themselves which will be used to contribute to breast cancer research and improving women's health. The project is funded by the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).
Why is the lifepool Project being run?
While there has been significant progress made in breast cancer research, there is still a lot about the disease that remains unknown. The information gathered from women during this project will be made available to researchers for many years, to assist with future breast cancer research. This is the first time that this type of information, (that is, health & lifestyle information as well as information contained in mammograms) has been gathered from such a large sample of women.
What information will lifepool collect, and how?
Each woman who chooses to participate in the lifepool project will be asked to provide information on her:
- health and lifestyle
- personal and family history of cancer
- mammogram results
Some women will also be asked to donate a blood sample, and women who develop breast cancer during the five year study period will be asked to allow lifepool to collect left over cancer tissue from the pathology lab where her breast tissue was sent after her surgery. This tissue is kept in the pathology laboratory for many years.
BreastScreen Victoria (BSV) is a key partner in the project. BSV offers free screening mammograms to Victorian women who have not had breast cancer. When women attend BSV for their mammogram they will be invited to participate in lifepool. However it is entirely up to each individual woman to decide if would like to participate in lifepool.
Women with breast cancer can join lifepool, even if they don't receive an invitation from BSV, or if they don't have mammograms through BSV. Any Victorian woman who has had, or intends to have, a mammogram, is invited by lifepool to be part of the project.
More information
To find out more about the lifepool project, contact:
Lisa Devereux (lifepool Manager)
Phone: 1800 198 082
Email: lifepool@petermac.org
www.lifepool.org
