Our Cancer Research

Against Breast Cancer funds groundbreaking cancer research to improve detection, treatment and increase survival after breast cancer diagnosis. The focus of our research is preventing secondary spread, the main cause of breast cancer related deaths.

The ultimate goal of Against Breast Cancer is to stop secondary breast cancer from claiming lives, our unique approach is to do this by focusing our research on prevention, detection and therapies.

Investing in new cancer research

We fund research which addresses:

Dr Anthony Leathem

Against Breast Cancer’s co-founder Dr. Anthony Leathem, discovered during his own research that secondary breast cancers had an unusual arrangement of sugars on the cancer cell surface.

Today, Against Breast Cancer funds research into secondary breast cancer with a special interest in the sugar biology (glycobiology) involved. This sets us apart from other breast cancer charities.

For over 25 years we have focussed our research on factors which may affect spread from the primary cancer, (called metastasis), the main cause of breast cancer related deaths. We identified three key areas for investigation: immunology, biochemistry and diet & lifestyle.

Recognising that to undertake this cancer research we needed a substantial collection of samples from, and data on, breast cancer patients in the UK led us to undertake our diet & lifestyle study. DietCompLyf involved the recruitment of over 3000 patients from 56 hospitals across the UK. Each of the women were monitored for a period of 5 years after diagnosis. The samples and data collected provided a strong foundation for our research to these three key areas;

1. Immunology research – contributing to the development of a vaccine to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that can stop cancer cells growing or kill them.
2. Biochemistry research – seeking to find biomarkers in blood and urine which indicate the earliest stages of recurrence or spread before any symptoms are evident or are manifested physically. This will lead to new blood and urine tests being adopted by clinicians enabling appropriate treatments to be administered much earlier so increasing survival rates.
3. Diet & lifestyle research – investigating the factors which may extend survival times or which may have an adverse effect. This advice will complement existing open access follow-up programmes run post-treatment in hospitals as well as going to general practitioners, patients and support centres.

Secondary breast cancer is currently a managed disease; there is no ‘cure’. It is impossible to know if every breast cancer cell that has moved from the breast has been targeted and destroyed. Some tumour types are resistant to treatments that are currently available and resistance can also develop over time. We recognise the need for new treatments that target all types of secondary breast cancer cells before they have the chance to grow into tumours wherever they may be in the body.

Investing in education

Against Breast Cancer’s Fellowship Programme supports and develops young scientists who perform innovative cancer research into increasing survival rates after diagnosis of breast cancer.

The first Fellowship was awarded to Dr. Max Crispin of the Glycoprotein Therapeutics Laboratory at the University of Oxford for his research into carbohydrate-based vaccines and therapeutic antibodies.

The Fellowship programme is associated with Oriel College, Oxford and provides funding for each of the Junior Research Fellows for a 3 year period. We recognise the need for long term support for challenging research programmes.

The Fellowships will support continued innovation in breast cancer therapeutics to advance our knowledge of the interplay between antibodies and development of secondary cancers, or metastases, in breast cancer patients.