- National Audit of Metastatic Breast Cancer (NAoMe),
- National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN)
10 Sep 2026
This report reviews care for people with newly diagnosed metastatic breast cancer (MBC) across England and Wales between 2021 and 2023. It found that survival differed substantially by tumour subtype, and access to cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors varied considerably. More specifically, use differed according to patient age. 48% of people with ER +ve HER2 -ve de novo MBC aged under 80 years were treated with a CDK 4/6 inhibitor, compared to 17% for people aged 80 years and over.
The percentage of people with de novo MBC recorded as having care discussed by a multi-disciplinary team fell below the 90% target in 97 breast units across England and Wales
Other key findings include:
- People with de novo MBC are well represented but people with recurrent MBC are not captured as completely in the routine national cancer datasets. The audit still relies on an algorithm to identify people with recurrent metastatic disease.
- Among people with data recorded for this data item, 92% of people with de novo MBC saw a Clinical Nurse Specialist around the time of diagnosis, however actual levels of performance are uncertain due to poor data completeness.
- 30-day mortality rates following chemotherapy are higher among people with recurrent compared to de novo MBC in England, 16% vs 9% respectively.
The report includes recommendations to: improve MDT discussion; increase access to CDK4/6 inhibitors; review chemotherapy mortality; and improve recurrence data quality.
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