Breakthrough Breast Cancer was a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

whose mission was to "save lives through improving early diagnosis, developing new treatments and preventing all types of breast cancer". In 2015, Breakthrough Breast Cancer merged with another UK charity,

Breast Cancer Campaign Breast Cancer Campaign was a breast cancer research charity based in the United Kingdom. In 2015, Breast Cancer Campaign merged with another charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, to form the UK's largest breast cancer research charity - Breast C ...

, to form the UK's largest breast cancer research charity -

Breast Cancer Now Breast Cancer Now is a charity in the United Kingdom which was formed in 2015 by the merger of Breast Cancer Campaign and Breakthrough Breast Cancer. It is the United Kingdom's largest breast cancer charity. Its declared "Action Plan" is "by 205 ...

. In 2019,

Breast Cancer Care Breast Cancer Care is the only specialist UK-wide charity in the UK providing care, support and information to anyone affected by breast cancer. The charity's headquarters are in London, with additional offices in Sheffield, Cardiff, and Glasgow. ...

merged with Breast Cancer Now and the two organizations together became known as Breast Cancer Now.

History

Breakthrough Breast Cancer was envisioned by Bill Freedman and his children. Freedman's wife, actress

Toby Robins Toby Robins (March 13, 1931 – March 21, 1986) was a Canadian actress of film, stage and television. Robins starred in hundreds of radio and stage productions in Canada from the late 1940s through the 1960s, working with such performers as Jane ...

(1931–1986), died from breast cancer in 1986. With

Barry Gusterson Barry Austin Gusterson (born 24 October 1946) is a British pathologist who has been Professor of Pathology at the University of Glasgow since 2000 and Head of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Science, since 2006. Prior to this he was Founding Direc ...

of the Institute of Cancer Research, Freedman concluded that a new approach was needed to tackle that disease. They set out to establish a

centre of excellence A center of excellence (COE or CoE ), also called excellence center, is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support or training for a focus area. Due to its broad usage and vague legal prec ...

for breast cancer research under one roof, working on a coordinated programme of research. The organisation was founded to make this a reality, and in 1999 the Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre, at the

Institute of Cancer Research The Institute of Cancer Research (the ICR) is a public research institute and a member institution of the University of London in London, United Kingdom, specialising in oncology. It was founded in 1909 as a research department of the Royal Mar ...

, opened. In addition to the research centre, Breakthrough provides expert information about breast cancer and campaigns for better breast cancer services. In November 2003, their "Campaigns & Advocacy Network" was formed when they merged with the UK Breast Cancer Coalition (UKBCC). The organization works in partnership with other cancer research organisations and is a member of the

National Cancer Research Institute The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) is a UK-wide partnership between cancer research funders, which promotes collaboration in cancer research. Its member organizations work together to maximize the value and benefit of cancer research fo ...

Survey

The "Breakthrough Generations Survey" aims to survey 100,000 women and "plans to be the largest, most comprehensive scientific study into the causes of breast cancer". The survey is being carried out in association with the

. It asks women taking part to complete a comprehensive questionnaire about a wide range of health and lifestyle topics, and to have a blood sample taken, to then be followed up by investigators over the next 50 years.

Fundraising campaigns

The charity runs fundraising campaigns throughout the year, including

Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Fashion Targets Breast Cancer is a charity campaign originally launched in the UK in 1996 by Breakthrough Breast Cancer, and now operated under the charity's new name Breast Cancer Now. Corporate partners for the campaign represent famous high-st ...

, £1,000 Challenge, Pink Bake Off, running events, treks and others.

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

has sold a wide range of charitable women's clothes for them. for many years, and Avon have supported the charity for over 20 years with a range of fundraising products and campaigns.

TLC

Breakthrough Breast Cancer's TLC (Touch, Look, Check)

breast cancer awareness Breast cancer awareness is an effort to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of breast cancer through education on symptoms and treatment. Supporters hope that greater knowledge will lead to earlier detection of breast cancer, which is associ ...

campaig

encourages women to be aware of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.

iBreastCheck

Breakthrough Breast Cancer launched 'iBreastCheck

as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 2010. iBreastCheck is a mobile app that is an extension of the TLC campaign (see above), incorporating a TLC video, slideshow and reminder service, personalised breast cancer risk report, and information on Breakthrough's activities and how to get involved. Initially available for iPhones, an Android version was released in 2012.

NHS Breast Screening: The Facts

In 2013 Breakthrough Breast Cancer launched a 'NHS Breast Screening: The Facts' websit

to support women aged 50–70 in making an informed choice about whether to attend

breast screening Mammography (also called mastography) is the process of using low-energy X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer, typically through d ...

, after controversy in the UK media regarding the efficacy of breast screening for women. The website was the winner of the 2014 AMRC (Association of Medical Research Charities) Science Communication Awards for 'Communicating controversial topics'.

References

External links

Official websiteiBreastCheck NHS Breast Screening: The Facts
* * {{Authority control Health charities in the United Kingdom Former cancer organisations based in the United Kingdom