Against Breast Cancer - About us

Against Breast Cancer Dedicated to funding groundbreaking UK research to stop secondary spread breast cancer from claiming lives.

Prevention

Detection

Therapies

againstbreastcancer.org.uk

Research for a future free from secondary spread breast cancer Secondary spread breast cancer is also known as metastatic, advanced or stage 4 cancer.

It occurs when breast cancer cells break away from the original tumour and travel in the blood or lymphatic system to other parts of the body where they can grow into new uncurable tumours. Secondary spread is the main cause of breast cancer related deaths.

Working with expert scientists located in world class universities throughout the UK, Against Breast Cancer funds pioneering research that focuses on breast cancer prevention, detection and therapies.

The goal of Against Breast Cancer is to stop secondary spread breast cancer from claiming lives.

Find out more about our research

Prevention

Detection

Therapies

How diet and lifestyle may alter the risk of secondary breast cancer developing.

Designing better tools for earlier diagnosis of secondary breast cancer to increase survival rates.

How the body’s natural defences could be harnessed to create more effective treatments.

Our diet and lifestyle study (DietCompLyf) enrolled over 3000 breast cancer patients from 56 NHS hospitals. Samples and questionnaire data collected over 5 years post-diagnosis comprise the largest collection of its kind in the UK. By studying differences between patients who go on to develop secondary breast cancer and those who don’t, our aim is to provide effective, evidence-based advice about diet and lifestyle factors that may reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence.

Having better tools to detect secondary breast cancer earlier would mean patients can be treated sooner and their outcome improved.

Our researchers are studying the blood and urine samples from our DietCompLyf study to discover specific biological markers. These biomarkers may identify patients at high risk of secondary recurrence.

Biomarkers could also form the basis of an easy-to-use blood or urine test to monitor for secondary spread at home. This would provide peace of mind to many patients after treatment.

This new therapeutic approach is based on enhancing the immune system’s response to cancer. We are funding various projects trying to understand the relationship between cancer cells and our immune system.

This includes how cancer cells shield themselves from immune cell detection, how to selectively destroy cancer cells without damaging surrounding healthy tissue and how to enhance the immune response by activating larger numbers of immune cells. We aim to develop new highly specific antibody treatments for secondary breast cancer.

Laura’s Story Laura’s mum lived with advanced stage breast cancer for 21 years.

Aged just 35, Laura a police officer received her own diagnosis.

Read Laura’s story in full click here

When I was eleven, mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, she lived with it for twenty-one years. I have experienced how breast cancer affects you as a family. My two sisters and I grew up with breast cancer.

Treatments are improving all the time thanks to research. So much has changed since I was at the hospital with Mum for her treatment. While more people are being diagnosed, more people are surviving, and I hope to be one of those people.

I’m lucky that I found it and caught it in time. If I had delayed going to the doctor, it could even have spread before diagnosis. That’s why I hope effective routine screenings are developed for younger women.

I don’t know how far we are away from finding a cure for cancer, but I hope that if it’s not in my lifetime, that it’s in my daughter’s.

Hear Laura describe in her own words her experience and how she hopes for better tools to enable earlier detection in young women.

“We don’t need insta vs reality when it comes to cancer treatment and side effects” - Laura

How you can support us There are many ways you can support us, from eating cake to hiking a mountain!

Whatever interests you or challenges you, we have the answer to help you on your fundraising journey to support our life-saving research into secondary spread breast cancer.

Community fundraising

Sporting and Challenges

Think street party, bake offs with Find out our Breast Tea Ever campaign or more quiz nights. Fundraising as part of a community can bring you together, help meet new people, fend off loneliness and raise money!

Get creative in your community.

Do you like to walk, run, hike or cycle? Then look no further, we have an event or challenge for you. Whether it’s in the UK or overseas our events team can support you all the way.

Find out more

Giving in the workplace

Recycling

Does your company support Find out good causes and many will ask more employees to nominate charities close to their hearts. Will you nominate us?

A great way to support our Find out research is by recycling! We all more have unwanted items such as bras, clothes, ink cartridges and we all want to ensure less waste goes into landfill, Visit our recycling webpages to find out what we recycle and how you can take part.

Legacy

In Memory

Leaving a gift in your Will can help future generations, this selfless act can ensure research can continue and our hope of reaching our goal of a future free from secondary cancer.

Find out more

Losing a loved one is incredibly hard. You can create a tribute page to share memories with friends and family, remember moments such as birthday and anniversaries and fundraise for charity, perhaps in lieu of flowers.

Find out more

Breast cancer in the UK today Every year around 55,200 new breast cancer cases are diagnosed. That’s more than 150 every day.

Breast cancer affects both men and women.

Around 390 men were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.

Secondary spread is the main cause of breast cancer-related deaths.

It claims the lives of around 11,400 people every year. That’s nearly 1000 every month.

For a future free from breast cancer

text PINKBOX to 70085 to donate £5

Donate We are committed to reaching our goal of a future free from secondary breast cancer but we cannot achieve it without you. The funds you raise are vital and go directly towards supporting our research projects.

£5

Could fund research to enable personalised treatment and care, major factors in improving patient outcomes.

£10

Could support research into how diet & lifestyle may increase or decrease the risk of secondary breast cancer developing.

£15

Buys vital equipment/ consumables/materials needed to grow human breast cancer cells in the laboratory to test new treatments.

Click here to donate

£50

Could pay for the assessment of the properties of an anti-breast cancer antibody, to help scientists determine if it could be useful in new treatments.

Thank you To find out more please visit our website or follow us on social media.

Against Breast Cancer, Leathem House, 13 Napier Court, Barton Lane, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3YT t: 01235 534211 e: info@againstbreastcancer.org.uk

againstbreastcancer.org.uk