❤️‍🩹 Dame Rebecca Harris has met with 'Breast Cancer Now' in Parliament to learn more about barriers to secondary breast cancer treatments.

In the UK, 1 woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 10 minutes, with 1 in 7 women in the UK expected to develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Each one will face challenging treatment regimes, gruelling side effects, uncertainty, anxiety and fear. Breast Cancer Now work to make sure the right treatment is in place to counter this horrific disease.

Secondary, or metastatic, breast cancer occurs when breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body. While there are treatments that aim to slow down its progression and give people more time, secondary breast cancer cannot be cured. That means that people with this devastating disease rely on having access to the drugs they need to keep them alive.

Because of the way drugs are now being assessed, some life-extending treatments for secondary breast cancer will not be available. Breast Cancer Now are calling for the system to change so that those who may be given less than 2 years to live can access the drugs they need to prolong their lives.

This is part of Breast Cancer Now's vision that by 2050, everyone diagnosed with breast cancer will live, and be supported to live well.

To read more about the campaign, follow the link to Breast Cancer Now's report, here: https://breastcancernow.org/media-assets/yvllgmk0/setting-the-bar-too-high-report.pdf

Following the event, Rebecca commented: "My mother-in-law died of secondary breast cancer, so this issue is very close to my heart. Everyone with secondary breast cancer deserves more time to live. Vital medicine can help those with the disease to carry on their lives and spend invaluable time with their loved ones."