Personalized mammogram decisions for older breast cancer survivors
Official title: Individualizing Approaches to Surveillance Mammography in Older Breast Cancer Survivors
Funded at Dana-Farber Cancer Inst · NIH-11184421 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A shared decision-making toolkit helps women aged 80 and older who survived breast cancer decide whether to continue routine surveillance mammograms.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Dana-Farber Cancer Inst NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $833,902 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG089237-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11184421 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Women aged 80 or older who previously had breast cancer and are receiving survivorship care are the ideal candidates for this work.
✕Less likely to help
Younger survivors under 80, people currently undergoing active breast cancer treatment, or those who prefer continued routine screening regardless of life expectancy are unlikely to benefit from this specific toolkit.
What this research studies
This project offers a shared decision-making toolkit you and your clinician can use to talk about whether to keep getting routine mammograms. The toolkit includes clinician guidelines, suggested talking points, and a patient guide that explains benefits and harms like false positives, overdiagnosis, and extra procedures. Researchers will measure mammogram use, how confident people feel in their decisions, and how much patients understand after using the toolkit among breast cancer survivors aged 80 and older. The aim is to see if the toolkit leads to fewer unnecessary mammograms for people unlikely to benefit based on life expectancy and preferences.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could reduce unnecessary mammograms and related harms while aligning care with each older survivor's life expectancy and wishes.
How similar studies have gone: A prior pilot (R21) created the toolkit, but this is one of the first larger studies testing whether it actually changes mammography use and decision quality in very old survivors.
Where this research is happening
-
Dana-Farber Cancer Inst
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Freedman, Rachel Ann — Dana-Farber Cancer Inst
- Study coordinator: Freedman, Rachel Ann
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.