THE PRINCE OF WALES VISITS BREAST CANCER NOW
Thursday 13th May 2021
The Prince of Wales, Patron, will visit the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, 21 years after HRH formally opened the research centre, to hear about achievements and how Covid-19 has impacted Breast Cancer Now’s funded research.
On arrival, The Prince will be greeted by Baroness Delyth Morgan, Chief Executive of Breast Cancer Now, who will introduce him to Jill Thompson, Chair of Trustees at Breast Cancer Now, Professor Paul Workman, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research London, and Professor Andrew Tutt, Director of the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).
During the visit, His Royal Highness will visit a research lab and hear from Dr Rachel Brough, Senior Scientific Officer at The Institute of Cancer Research, London and Dr Alicia Okines, Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Associate Honorary Faculty at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, about an innovative trial currently underway at the Research Centre, looking into a potential treatment for lobular breast cancer, a type of the disease which accounts for up to 15 per cent of all breast cancer cases.
In a reception, His Royal Highness will meet Breast Cancer Now donors whose support has helped fund breast cancer research conducted at the Research Centre. This will include individuals who have taken part in Breast Cancer Now’s £1,000 Challenge, pledging to raise £1,000 for vital secondary breast cancer research at the Research Centre.
Breast Cancer Now is the UK’s first comprehensive breast cancer charity, combining world-class research and life-changing care. The charity’s ambition is that, by 2050, everyone who develops breast cancer will live and be supported to live well.
The Toby Robins Research Centre, which is funded by Breast Cancer Now, is globally renowned for bringing together world leaders in key scientific fields and enabling rapid progress in breast cancer research. The Research Centre currently houses more than 70 researchers from the ICR, with multidisciplinary science from bench to bedside all taking place under one roof.
Breast Cancer Now’s £1,000 Challenge pledges to raise £1,000 for vital secondary breast cancer research at the Centre. Participants include Oscar Coulson-Starley, 11, from Faversham, Kent, who raised funds for Breast Cancer Now since his mum was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2018, followed by a secondary breast cancer diagnosis in 2020. Another donation from Audrey, 78, a Founding £1,000 Challenger, helped ensure the Research Centre could be built.
Breast Cancer Now, like many medical research charities, has been forced to reduce its investment in research due to a drop in fundraising income caused by the COVID-19. The charity’s funded researchers have also lost valuable time in labs across the UK, due to disruption caused by the pandemic. With around 55,000 women and 370 men diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK every year, and the charity estimating that almost 11,000 people in the UK could currently be living with undiagnosed breast cancer due to the disruption of the pandemic on breast cancer services, innovative breast cancer research has never been more urgently needed.
The Prince of Wales has been Patron of Breast Cancer Now since 1998. In 1999, His Royal Highness opened the Toby Robins Research Centre, which was the UK’s first dedicated breast cancer research centre.
