Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) has recently been activated as a recruitment site for a new UK wide breast cancer trial called SMALL.
The SMALL trial is for women participating in the NHS breast screening programme and who had a small early breast cancer diagnosed during their screening. The trial is comparing surgery under general anaesthesia versus vacuum assisted excision (VAE) under local anaesthetic.
VAE uses a needle with an attached vacuum device. The needle is inserted into the breast and the cancer tissue is sucked out. This technique is already used to remove lumps in the breast that are not cancer. Local Investigators Consultant Breast Radiologist Dr Daina Greiskalna and Consultant Breast Surgeon Miss Beatrix Elsberger have emphasised that participation in this trial will only be offered to eligible small early breast screening detected breast cancer patients.
At the moment all breast cancer patients have to undergo surgery to remove the cancer. But this might not be necessary for this particular group of patients. The thinking is that vacuum assisted excision might be as good as surgery for women with these small breast cancers. The study will find out how well VAE works, learn more about the side effects and how VAE affects quality of life. You can find out more about this study on the Cancer Research UK website.
The ARI breast team is excited to offer this opportunity of participation in this trial to suitable Breast Screening patients within NHS Grampian, Orkney and Shetland.