Sloane Project
On this page you will find information about the Sloane Project
Overview
The Sloane Project is an audit of screen-detected ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), lobular in situ neoplasis (LISN) and atypical hyperplasias of the breast, which was set up in collaboration with the Association of Breast Surgery. The main aim of the Sloane Project is to gain a greater understanding of the diagnosis, treatment and clinical outcomes of screen detected breast carcinoma in situ and atypical hyperplasia to enable patient and health care professionals to make more informed choices regarding treatment options in future.
History of the Sloane Project
The first phase of the project ran from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2012 and collected data on DCIS, LISN and ADH. The second phase commenced on 1 April 2012 with a focus on risk lesions and atypia (LISN, ADH, Pleomorphic LCIS (PLCIS), and Flat Epithelial Atypia (FEA)). Patients with DCIS are no longer accrued to the study, although we continue to collect outcome data for all Sloane Project patients entered.
The audit has collected comprehensive data on the radiological and pathological features, treatment and follow-up data on over 15,000 patients since it began in April 2003 making it the largest dataset of its kind in the world. Results from the audit have had an impact on the diagnosis and management of DCIS in the UK and internationally.
Update from the Sloane Project Steering Group, February 2026
The Sloane Project was set up by Public Health England (PHE) in collaboration with the Association of Breast Surgery as an audit of screen-detected ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), lobular in situ neoplasia (LISN) and atypical hyperplasias of the breast.
The Sloane Project has very successfully accrued information from many women with NHS breast screening detected DCIS and atypias since 2003 – an amazing feat of coordination between clinical and organizational services across the United Kingdom. Sloane is an outstanding and globally recognized unique prospective cohort which will continue to develop and deliver insights into non-invasive breast neoplasia into the future.
With national reorganization of health care structures, we have ceased recruitment of new patients to the cohort and the Sloane website has now been removed from the .GOV webpages, but the project work is ongoing in a number of areas.
The aims of the Sloane Project were to gain a greater understanding of the diagnosis, treatment and clinical outcomes of screen detected non-invasive breast neoplasia to enable patients and health care professionals to make more informed choices regarding treatment options. The project ran in two distinct phases and many important lessons emerged which have increased our knowledge and impacted patient management nationally and internationally.
The first phase of the project ran from 1st April 2003 to 31st March 2012 and collected data on DCIS, LISN and ADH. The second phase commenced on 1st April 2012 with a focus on risk lesions and atypia (LISN, ADH, Pleomorphic LCIS (PLCIS), and Flat Epithelial Atypia (FEA)). The project represents the largest prospective cohort study of DCIS in the world with 11,288 DCIS patients and an additional 3,238 women with atypias.
Over two decades the Sloane Project has contributed knowledge for the management of breast disease via the following:
- 139 presentations, posters and published abstracts at regional, national and international meetings.
- 20 papers published in prestigious and impactful academic journals.
- 18 Association of Breast Surgery yearbook and annual/progress reports and through innumerable blogs, newsletters, web pages and media outlets.
Whether by influencing practice nationally and globally or simply raising awareness, this partnership between the NHS Breast Screening Programme in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Independent Cancer Patients Voice, the Association of Breast Surgery and many others is outstanding.
The project would not have been possible without the diligent work of those within the NHS Breast Screening Programme in the collection and collation of imaging, surgical, pathology and oncology data for inclusion in this important project. Through established data linkage methods and using laboratory innovations the amazing data, clinical materials and follow up will continue to deliver further lessons and new insights long into the future. Current work is currently focused on securing and finding a safe and appropriate home for the data given current changes within NHS England
The Sloane Steering Group
