Prevent Breast Cancer is the only UK charity funding ground-breaking research solely aimed at preventing breast cancer for future generations.
Predict. Prevent. Protect. You could call it our mantra. As the only UK charity entirely dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer, we’re committed to freeing the world from the disease altogether. Unlike many cancer charities, we’re focused on preventing, rather than curing. Promoting early diagnosis, screening and lifestyle changes, we believe we can stop the problem before it starts. And being situated at the only breast cancer prevention centre in the UK, we’re right at the front-line in the fight against the disease.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. At Prevent Breast Cancer, we’re passionate about stopping the disease before it starts. We promote healthier lifestyles and early diagnosis. We also collaborate with others to influence change in breast cancer services. We work closely with The Manchester Breast Centre to collaborate with the best experts in the field. And by being based at the UK’s only breast cancer prevention centre, The Nightingale Centre, we are at the forefront of preventative research.
Breast cancer is a devastating disease that affects too many people – the patients, their families, friends and colleagues. It is a disease that can often be cured if caught early and suitable treatments are prescribed. But what if there was no need for the cure? There was no diagnosis, no before or after breast cancer. What if people could live their lives safe in the knowledge that it would never happen to them.
Every year, in the UK, 55,000 individuals are diagnosed – 150 people a day. And every year, we lose 11,400 to this disease. That is 11,400 too many. In fact, it is 55,000 too many. If we could prevent breast cancer tomorrow, by 2027, over 550,000 would never receive a diagnosis.
To prevent breast cancer for future generations through preventative testing, screening, lifestyle changes and drugs where needed.
- Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, despite it being a rare disease in men.
- 1 in 9 women and 1 in 1000 men in the UK will develop the disease in their lifetime.
- Across the UK, 55,000 people annually are diagnosed with breast cancer.
- Tragically 11,400 women do not survive, though survival rates are increasing.
- In the last ten years, female incidence rates have increased by 3.6%.
- In the UK breast cancer rates have increased by 57% in the last 30 years.
- It is predicted that in the UK there will be 57,000 new cases per annum by 2024, an increase of 7% in 8 years.
- Currently only 3% of all cancer research funding is spent on prevention.
We seed-fund medical research projects into the prediction and prevention of breast cancer – without our original funding these research projects would not happen. Furthermore once the projects have been undertaken, they can often support large grant applications to organisations such as The National Institute of Health Research.
Our Specific Aims
- To predict which women are most susceptible to breast cancer.
- To diagnose the disease early through better and earlier detection methods.
- To research and develop preventative measures for the disease.
- To increase the uptake of breast screening in minority ethnic groups.
- To identify women as high, medium or low risk through gene, lifestyle and breast density testing.
- To undertake further research into high risk genes and gene fragments (SNPs).
- To offer diet and lifestyle interventions to those deemed high-risk.
- To increase the frequency of screening for high-risk women.
- To improve diagnosis and treatment of pre-cancer changes.
- To develop preventative drugs for appropriate patients.
- To provide more accurate breast screening tools.
- To raise awareness of the disease in minority ethnic communities.
We may be 20 years young, but the fight against breast cancer is still the driving force behind our vision. As we evolve into Prevent Breast Cancer, we can’t wait to see what the next 20 years brings, but together, we will make breast cancer a preventable disease for future generations.
That is our aim. That is our name. Prevent Breast Cancer.
The promise is in our name
PREVENT BREAST CANCER – PROTECTING FUTURE GENERATIONS