With breast cancer affecting over 44,000 women and 300 men each year in the UK, the leading breast cancer charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer revealed exciting plans to open three new dedicated research units, which will investigate ways to prevent breast cancer and improve diagnosis and treatments for the disease. This announcement is part of Breakthrough's new strategy, which aims to move the charity towards its vision of a future free from the fear of breast cancer.
Breakthrough Breast Cancer needs to raise at least ВЈ25 million each year for the next three years to support its vital research, campaigning and education work. Breast cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK yet a recent study found survival rates in the UK to be among the worst in Europe*.
The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Units will be based in Edinburgh, Manchester and London and will each focus on a specific area of breast cancer research. In Scotland, the new unit will aim to improve and develop treatments for breast cancer. In Manchester, the team will focus on developing new ways to detect and prevent early breast cancer and the new London unit will investigate a poorly understood type of breast cancer called basal-like breast cancer, which is more common amongst young women and those of African origin.
Each unit will have strong links with a major cancer hospital or breast unit and research institute or university. The units will complement work already taking place at the internationally renowned Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre based in the Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Building at The Institute of Cancer Research in London, which was the UK's first dedicated breast cancer research facility.
Breakthrough Breast Cancer has a reputation for world-class research. At the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre 120 scientists work under the directorship of Professor Alan Ashworth. Research so far has led to two international clinical trials, including the world's first clinical trial for women with hereditary breast cancer (the BRCA trial), underpinned the discovery of a potential new drug, called a PARP inhibitor, for women with a type of hereditary breast cancer (currently in Phase II trials) and the setting up of the largest and most comprehensive study into the causes of breast cancer, the Breakthrough Generations Study, in partnership with The Institute of Cancer Research. The charity is also soon to embark on a unique project investigating the role of complementary therapies in helping to alleviate the side effects of breast cancer treatment
Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, says;
"Breast cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK and, despite 80 percent of breast cancer patients in the UK surviving for at least five years after diagnosis, there is still much to do - survival rates in the UK are among the lowest in Europe. There is much more we must and should be doing. The more we learn and the more we do, the more lives are saved.
"By expanding our research, campaigning and education activities, we aim to tackle breast cancer from all angles and achieve our vision of a future free from the fear of breast cancer."
As part of its strategy, Breakthrough Breast Cancer aims to educate women on the importance of early diagnosis, which can offer the best chances of survival. Since 2004, the charity has promoted its simple yet effective 'Show Your Breasts Some TLC: Touch, Look, Check' message - Touch and Look for any changes and Check anything unusual with your doctor. Breakthrough's education work will focus on women aged 45 to 57 years old and highlight the importance of being breast aware and attending breast screening appointments after 50.
The strategy also sets out Breakthrough's commitment to developing its influencing and campaigning work, in particular extending the reach of Breakthrough's influential Campaigns & Advocacy Network (Breakthrough CAN), and working with breast care units across the UK through Breakthrough's Service Pledge for Breast Cancer - a tool to help patients and health professionals work in partnership to improve local breast cancer services.
Oonagh Wilson, who lives in Scotland, has a family history of breast cancer and is a member of Breakthrough's Campaigns & Advocacy Network. She says;
"As a long-term supporter and campaigner for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, I'm so pleased to hear about the charity's exciting plans, particularly as one of the new research units is in Scotland. Being diagnosed with breast cancer can be devastating for women and their families. Although more women than ever are surviving the disease there is still so much to do to find out about its causes, develop new treatments and make sure everyone affected by cancer has the best possible care so I'm looking forward to helping Breakthrough achieve its goals."
Breakthrough Breast Cancer is the UK's leading charity committed to tackling breast cancer through research, campaigning and education. For more information about Breakthrough Breast Cancer and its work, please visit: breakthrough.uk.
* Studies published in the Lancet Oncology journal on 21 August 2007 highlighted that five-year survival rates from breast cancer in the UK were among the lowest in Europe. The studies focused on 23 countries across Europe and examined the outcome of 2.7m new cases of cancer diagnosed between 1995 and 1999. Currently in the UK, 80% of breast cancer patients are surviving for at least five years after diagnosis.
- The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Units will be up and running over the next year with official opening dates to be announced.
- The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at The University of Edinburgh will be based at the soon-to-be-launched Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine with laboratories adjacent to the Edinburgh Breast Unit of the Western General Hospital. The unit will be led by Mr Mike Dixon, Consultant Surgeon at the Western General Hospital, and Professor David Harrison, Director of the Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre. The team will use the most up-to-date technologies to analyse biological changes in hormone-positive breast cancers, which account for around 80 per cent of all invasive breast cancers. They will develop new treatments for women who do not respond well or who develop resistance to hormone therapies.
- The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at King's College London will be based in Guy's Hospital, part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, adjacent to King's College London Academic Breast Unit. Dr Andrew Tutt will develop the Breakthrough Research Unit, King's College London with the aid of Professor Arnie Purushotham, who leads the King's College London Academic Breast Unit. The team will focus on investigating a poorly understood type of breast cancer called basal-like breast cancer.
- The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at The University of Manchester will be based within the Manchester Cancer Research Centre in the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research adjacent to the Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Professor Anthony Howell, Professor of Medical Oncology at Manchester University, will develop and lead this unit. The team will investigate the very earliest stages of breast cancer development to identify new ways to detect breast cancers and new targets for preventing the disease.
Breakthrough's campaigning activities include;
- Left in the Dark - a campaign to ensure all women referred by their GP with breast problems are seen by a specialist within 2 weeks.
- Family History - a campaign to improve access to MRI and mammography screening for women with a family history of breast cancer.
- Screening Saves Lives - a campaign to improve uptake of the NHS Breast Screening Programme and to ensure that the Government has put sufficient resources in place to deal with the expected increased demand on this vital service in the future, as more women born in the post-war 'baby boom' reach their 50th birthdays and as a result, become eligible for routine breast screening.
Since 2004, Breakthrough has been educating women about being breast aware. The charity's campaign, ''Show Your Breasts Some TLC: Touch, Look, Check', aims to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.
Breakthrough Breast Cancer:
- Breakthrough Breast Cancer is the UK's leading charity committed to fighting breast cancer through research, campaigning and education. Our essence comes from the thousands of people who are committed to a single vision - to work for a future free from the fear of breast cancer. More information can be found at: breakthrough.uk.
- In 1999, Breakthrough Breast Cancer in partnership with The Institute of Cancer Research established the UK's first dedicated breast cancer research centre - The Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre.
- The Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre is situated in the Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Building at the Chester Beatty Laboratories at The Institute of Cancer Research. It is the first dedicated breast cancer research facility in the UK and, under the directorship of Professor Alan Ashworth, its 120 scientists and clinicians are working on a programme of cutting edge biological research that ultimately aims to eradicate breast cancer, by discovering the causes of the disease, finding methods of prevention and developing new treatments and more effective diagnosis.
Breast Cancer:
- Breast cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in UK women, accounting for nearly 1 in 3 of all female cancers.
- Over 44,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK and 1,000 women will die every month from this disease.
- 80% of breast cancer patients in the UK are surviving for at least five years after diagnosis. However, studies which were published in the Lancet Oncology journal in August 2007 highlighted that five-year survival rates from breast cancer in the UK were among the lowest in Europe. The studies focused on 23 countries across Europe and examined the outcome of 2.7m new cases of cancer diagnosed between 1995 and 1999.
- Breakthrough has developed a handbag-sized guide - Breast Cancer Risk Factors: The Facts - to help improve our understanding of the known causes of breast cancer.
breakthrough.uk
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