Breast cancer | Guidance and guidelines | NICE

Breast cancer | Guidance and guidelines | NICE

Breast cancer

NICE quality standard [QS12] Published date: September 2011 Last updated: June 2016 

Uptake of this guidance

• Overview

• Introduction
• List of quality statements
• Quality statement 1: Timely diagnosis
• Quality statement 2: Preoperative MRI scan
• Quality statement 3: Gene expression profiling
• Quality statement 4: ER and HER2 receptor status
• Quality statement 5: Multidisciplinary team management of metastatic breast cancer
• Quality statement 6: Key worker
• Using the quality standard
• Diversity, equality and language
• Development sources
• Related NICE quality standards
• Quality Standards Advisory Committee and NICE project team
• Update information
• About this quality standard

NICE quality standards describe high-priority areas for quality improvement in a defined care or service area. Each standard consists of a prioritised set of specific, concise and measurable statements. They draw on existing guidance, which provides an underpinning, comprehensive set of recommendations, and are designed to support the measurement of improvement.

This quality standard covers the management of early (ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive), locally advanced and advanced breast cancer, recurrent breast cancer and familial breast cancer in adults. This includes breast cancer identified through screening and by assessment of symptoms, and covers care from the point of referral to a specialist team. It does not cover adults with non-cancerous breast tumours. For more information see thebreast cancer topic overview.

This quality standard has been updated. It was identified for update after the annual review of quality standards in 2014. The review identified that there had been changes in the areas for improvement for breast cancer. For further information about the update, including statements from the 2011 quality standard that are no longer national priorities for improvement but are still underpinned by current accredited guidance, see update information.

This quality standard was previously called breast cancer quality standard.

Endorsing bodies

This quality standard is endorsed by NHS England as required by the Health and Social Care Act (2012).

Supporting organisations

A number of organisations recognise the benefit of this quality standard in improving care. They work with us to promote it to commissioners and service providers:

• Association of Breast Surgery
• British Society of Breast Radiologists
• Royal College of General Practitioners