About Breast Cancer Campaign

Breast Cancer Campaign’s mission is to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment prevention and cure. The charity has a particular interest in supporting innovative research and will fund the best breast cancer research in the UK and Ireland, providing that it is of the highest quality.

Our logo is the jigsaw piece because it symbolises the missing pieces of the puzzle that is the cure for breast cancer. In the same way that breast cancer is not one disease, there will not be one cure. Each research project is another piece of the puzzle that we hope will ultimately offer all women with breast cancer effective diagnosis and treatment and eventually help us prevent the disease.

Every year nearly 46,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK. Campaign aims to make a significant impact on breast cancer for the benefit of patients. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a key time for raising awareness and much needed funds. We rely on the tireless efforts of our volunteers and fundraisers who help raise funds for our valuable work. With their enthusiasm and commitment we can take a step closer to our goal of beating breast cancer.

Our history

Campaign was established in 1988 with the aim of researching the cure for breast cancer. The charity aims to be the leading specialist in breast cancer research across the UK and Ireland, making a significant impact on breast cancer for the benefit of patients. Over the past 13 years, the charity has awarded 261 grants with a total value of over £26 million to universities, medical schools and research institutes across the UK and now also in Ireland.

In 2008 Breast Cancer Campaign published an evaluation of the current gaps in knowledge and limitations within breast cancer research.

Findings showed that a key barrier to progress is a need for access to standardised, consistent and high quality human tissue for breast cancer research. This lack of access is a major barrier to translating research into potential new and more targeted treatments.

In response to this problem, Breast Cancer Campaign is planning to launch a national breast tissue bank, which will allow scientists across the UK and Ireland access to high quality clinical material.

This will ensure that research is fast tracked from the laboratory to the clinic as quickly as possible. With this additional weapon in the fight against breast cancer, we expect the number of people surviving the disease will increase in the coming years.

One of Breast Cancer Campaign’s many achievements is the work being carried out by scientists at the University of Sheffield where Dr Ingunn Holen and her team, are researching drug combinations in breast cancer treatment. The findings from one of her research projects were recently published in a highly respected science journal and they showed dramatic results. Giving two drugs, a chemotherapy agent and a bone protecting drug in a particular order, at specific time intervals, showed almost complete destruction of breast tumours (99.99 per cent). This drug combination could ultimately lead to improved chances of survival for thousands of women undergoing breast cancer treatment.