Breast Cancer, particularly BRCA, is a cause very close to my heart. Breast and ovarian cancer has touched the lives of my immediate family, friends and loved ones repeatedly throughout the course of my life.

The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at King's College London is located in Guy's Hospital, South London. One of many units supported by Breakthrough Breast Cancer conducting effective research into the causes, prevention and treatment of breast cancer.

Research is at the heart of everything Breakthrough Breast Cancer does. We fund nearly a quarter of all breast cancer research in the UK, much of which takes place in our own Research Centre, which opened in 1999 and was the first of its kind in Britain. TheBreakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre brings together world leaders across key research areas. It has ten teams, 140 doctors and scientists and they’re all working together with one aim – to save the lives of people affected by breast cancer.

The BRCA1 gene was discovered by scientists at King’s College, London, in 1990. The Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre’s Professor Alan Ashworth (now Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research), was instrumental in the discovery of the BRCA2 gene in 1995.

Breakthrough also funds a breast cancer research unit at King's College, London, where work focuses on understanding triple negative breast cancer, and one at the University of Manchester, where the team studies how cancer cells feed off healthy cells to survive and grow.

Our work centres on four key areas: Prevention, Detection, Diagnosis and Treatment. By finding the causes, we will know how to prevent the disease; by promoting early detection, more women will recognise the signs and symptoms of breast cancer; by finding ways to make the diagnosis of breast cancer more accurate, more women will receive precise treatments; and by discovering new and better treatments and improving health services, women will receive effective, guaranteed treatments and care.

There have been some important breakthroughs and discoveries made by our amazing powerhouse of scientists and doctors. In 14 years and with just £82 million, some of these are currently in clinical trials – including one for an entirely new type of treatment.

We rely on your support to help us achieve our vision of a world freed from breast cancer.

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