Whilst I am away, please don’t worry as there will still be someone here to help you with your fundraising queries. My lovely colleague Katie can be contacted on 020 7025 2474 and is happy to help, so please don’t be shy!

Good luck to all of you who have fundraising events over the next couple of weeks and I look forward to speaking with you when I’m back.

Leah
x

Click here to download this amazing article!

The study, published today in the journal Cell Stem Cell, shows for the first time that the most aggressive and hard-to-treat types of the disease are likely to arise from intermediary, or progenitor, cells. The results run counter to the commonly-held theory that breast cancer originates in stem cells. This is hugely significant in directing future research into combating the disease.

Study leader Dr Matt Smalley, from the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London, said: “These results represent a major advance in our understanding of breast cancer. It means we can now look very closely at where the disease forms and which genes are involved in that process. This knowledge will greatly improve the chance of finding effective new targeted treatments for breast cancer patients in the future.”

For more information visit: http://breakthrough.org.uk/media_centre/news_views/origins.html

Dr Nick Turner said “This test may reduce the time taken to discover if a breast cancer patient is not going to have a good response to a chemotherapy from three months to just 24 hours. It would make a big difference to patients, who could be moved onto other treatment options sooner and spared unnecessary side effects”.

 Currently, patients have to take a full 12-week course of chemotherapy before doctors know how well they have responded, which is typically a combination of two or three chemotherapy drugs. One of these would usually be anthracycline. While the drug works for many patients, some patients do not respond. If a woman does not respond to anthracycline based chemotherapy they could be taken off it and treated with other chemotherapy drugs, or potentially switched to hormone therapies, such as tamoxifen.Professor Alan Ashworth, Director of the Research Centre, said: “We want to see all breast cancer patients get the right treatment at the earliest possible stage. This test is a step towards that aim and we now want to develop it so that it can be used routinely in the clinic“.

For more information visit: http://breakthrough.org.uk/media_centre/news_views/chemotherapy_test.html

• It is the number 1 health concern for women in the UK.
• Nearly 46,000 women and 300 men are diagnosed every year in the UK.
• Almost 1000 women will die every month in the UK from this devastating disease – That’s 33 women a day.
• These women are our mothers, daughters, friends and loved ones.

WHAT YOU’RE SUPPORTING

 Too Many Women are confronting these startling statistics head-on by raising over £1 million for the pioneering work of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre on London’s Fulham Road.

Established in 1999, it was the first dedicated breast cancer research centre in the UK and is currently one of the largest in the world. Housing over 120 world-class scientists and clinicians, the research centre’s work has been hailed by cancer experts as “unmatched” and “unparalleled“. The centre’s exciting work was highlighted in a recent article in The Times, which stated that thanks to the centre, tremendous progress is being made towards new treatments that will successfully combat the disease in all its different forms.

With your support the centre will continue to work towards a future when breast cancer will no longer be a life-threatening disease, to a future when every breast cancer patient will receive personalised treatment and ultimately, to a future free from the fear of breast cancer. 

HOW YOUR MONEY HELPS

• £500 buys a machine called a ‘transilluminator’ which is used within the research centre by the Breakthrough Scientists to study DNA during experiments. It enables them to investigate genetic changes in breast cancer cells and consequently to look into the causes of breast cancer.
• £5,000 pays for the sequencing of over 500 million code letters of DNA using our state-of-the-art ‘Genome Sequencing Facility’. This will help scientists to identify the genetic causes of breast cancer.
• £1,000,000 would fund the entire Breakthrough Research Centre for over two months. This includes 13 research teams of world-class scientists plus all the highly specialist chemicals and equipment they need for their experiments. Each team is investigating a different aspect of breast cancer research, meaning we have a very comprehensive programme of research that is tackling the disease from all angles. It also includes funding outstanding new facilities such as Genome Sequencing which are speeding-up the pace of research. 

Click here to download a short summary of how you are helping to save lives

Director of Policy at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Maggie Alexander commented:
“This is very positive news and a trend that we hope to see continue.  Due to increased awareness, better screening and more effective treatments, the UK has seen a dramatic decrease in mortality rates. 

However, breast cancer is still the most common cancer in the UK and there is still more to do to build a future free from the disease.  That is why it is vital that we continue to invest in breast cancer research and services including breast screening.”

If you would like more information about the above or have any questions please call Leah on 020 7025 0275 or email info@toomanywomen.co.uk

Dr Caitlin Palframan, Policy Manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer says that it is difficult to directly compare these two populations side by side as it is likely that many breast cancer cases in Eastern Africa are not diagnosed or recorded.  Furthermore, breast cancer is thought to be due to a combination of lifestyle, genetic and environmental factors and many of these may differ between the UK and other populations. 

However, whilst this may be the case, some risk factors cannot be changed, for example, women can reduce their risk by drinking less alcohol, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly.

Daily Mail Article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1301445/Western-lifestyle-blame-soaring-breast-cancer-rates.html-
Daily Express Article:
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/192053/Breast-cancer-rates-in-UK-four-times-as-bad-as-east-Africa-

If you have any questions about the above please call Leah on 020 7025 0275

The drug has been developed to combat specific forms of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. And this week breast and ovarian cancer trial results have been published in the prestigious journal, The Lancet. The trials’ results are very promising and show that in women who have had many different types of chemotherapy, the drug shrank tumours in about 40% of cases. And due to the targeted nature of the drug, it caused few side effects.

 

As always, none of this would have been possible without your support. Your generosity continues to help our scientists in the fight against breast cancer. It is incredibly exciting to see the work we have done in the labs become a reality in clinical trials. Our vision of ‘a future free from the fear of breast cancer’ is not only an aspiration but is fast becoming an achievable reality.

http://toomanywomen.co.uk/winky01/2010/07/20/hello-world/#comments

To help you get the ball rolling or to help you make-up those last few pounds to reach your team’s £5k target, we’ve picked our Top Ten simple yet successful fundraisers that have been organised by some of you!

TRIED & TESTED FUNDRAISERS – In no particular order!

1.
Donate: Margy Fenwick & her Team have been approaching friends, family & Trusts that they know and asking for donations.
Amount Raised: So far a very healthy £1,750!
Best Bit: For those with little time to spare this is a great way of reaching your target.

2.
Collection: Anthony Becher, Rupert Spice & James Chapman Andrews spent a few hours one sunny Sunday afternoon bucket-collecting.
Amount Raised: An incredible £1000 in only 3 hours!
Best Bit: They had a lot of fun!
http://www.justgiving.com/copafeel

 3.
Clothes Sale: Bee Rice, Mimma Viglezio, Caroline Eisner & Suzanne Lanz , Selina Hoare (who donated 10% of sales for 1 night from her clothes shop Libelula) plus upcoming sales from Astrid Harbord & Siobhan Machin.
Amount Raised: Bee raised £500, Mimma raised £750, Caroline & Suzanne raised £1000 in just a few hours and Selina raised £1700 in 1 night!
Best Bit: Very simple to organise. Plus, you get rid of unwanted items, making space in your wardrobe and raise some easy money at the same time! Ask friends and family to donate their unwanted items to include in your sale and hold it at work, your house or at a Market or Fete.

4.
Quiz: Anne Quayle, Poppy Delevingne & Issy Stainforth as well as an upcoming quiz from Claire Neilson.
Amount Raised: Anne raised an incredible £1,570, Poppy raised an equally amazing £1,285 and Issy an impressive £600
Best Bit: This is something that lots of people do anyway and your local pub is usually a good bet in providing a cheap/free venue as they will be quids in from drinks sales!

 

5.
Hire out a skill: Ros Milani Galieni & Victoria Fox both held a Yoga in the Park event in return for donations. Nicola Howland-Jackson is hiring out her interior design services in return for donations. Davina Bosanquet & Sarah Dunn will be auctioning off some of their artwork for TMW.
Amount Raised: Ros raised £1000 with her hour long yoga lesson, Vicky raised £500 and Nicola has so far raised £70.
Best Bit: You could tailor this to suit you, e.g. a tennis class/match or music lessons in return for donations.

6.
Lunch: Ricky Calvocoressi, Lisa Carter, Jane Mackenzie & Lottie Cookson all held lunches at theirs or a friends house and asked for donations from people to attend.
Amount Raised: Ricky raised an incredible £1370, Lisa raised £325, Jane raised an amazing £850 and Lottie  £300
Best Bit: Very easy to organise and costs are minimal. You can keep it simple and do this a few different times throughout the year, e.g. a summer strawberry tea, an autumn hog-roast and a Christmas Dinner.

7.
Sponsorship for a challenge: Andrew Jackson ran a 10K race, Holly Botros & Team ran a Half Marathon as did Kryszia De Nahlik, Philippa Holland & Martha Sitwell rode side-saddle on horse-back for 100 miles, Tamsin Sherbrooke completed a London to Paris Bike Ride, Sarah Haden and friends walked 20K and the coming months will see Marcus Langlands Pearse complete a very adventurous skydive and Arthur Snell a London to Brighton Marathon.
Amount Raised: Andrew raised £460, Holly raised £3,081, Kryszia raised £830, Phillipa & Martha raised £2,635, Tamsin raised £665, Sarah raised £770 and so far Marcus has raised £745  and Arthur £300.
Best Bit: There’s a challenge to suit everyone and with summer here the options really are endless. Also, sponsorship is easy to collect through justgiving.

8.
Giving something up: Sharon Horgan will be celebrating her birthday by asking people to make a donation through her justgiving page rather than buying her a present. Bev Guiness chose to give-up sending Christmas cards last year and the money she saved she donated to TMW.
Amount Raised: Sharon Horgan – watch this space … Bev Guiness saved and donated £250
Best Bit: You don’t have to do anything!

9.
Games Night: Jennie Hardless held a ‘Bridge for Breast Cancer’ evening with a group of friends and Emilia Falcetti is raising money with a monthly Poker Night.
Amount Raised: Jennie raised a truly amazing £1,500 and Emilia has so far raised £600.
Best Bit: Very easy to organise, lots of fun, something you might do anyway and raises lots of money in a short space of time!
 

10.
Drinks Party: Anna Bonsor held an evening of cocktails & canapes, Indi Davies & Becca Robertson had a low-key drinks party at Barts and Maggie Heath held a smart evening at the City Inn.
Amount Raised: Anna raised £2,200, Indi & Becca raised an easy £1000 and Maggie raised a super impressive £10,499!
Best Bit: You can keep it as simple and low-key as you like as did Becca & Indi or you can jazz it up a bit like Maggie. Either way, keep it simple with a few relaxed drinks after work in a venue that you can either get for free or very cheap, so that the costs are low and the funds raised high!