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News items from 2024
Manchester Breast Centre (MBC) appoints new leadership team
03 Dec 2024
Manchester Breast Centre (MBC) is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Sacha Howell as Director and Dr Sankari Nagarajan as Deputy Director of the MBC, commencing on 1st January 2025.
Research into Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer boosted by new partnership
19 Nov 2024
The Lobular Moon Shot Project is to partner with the Manchester Breast Centre to help expedite urgent research into Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer (ILC).
The Polygenic Risk Score in Breast Cancer Risk Assessment
09 Oct 2024
In this MCRC blog article, MSc Science Communication Student Lily Hamilton interviews Prof Gareth Evans, a leading expert in breast cancer genetics to explain the use of polygenic risk scores, personalised breast cancer screening and the promising research taking place in this field.
Manchester researchers identify system that can detect more breast cancer patients eligible for testing for cancer risk genes
07 Oct 2024
Researchers have shown that their system, developed at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), can identify more breast cancer patients who are eligible for testing for inherited faulty genes that can cause breast cancer. This could help to improve detection rates of people at an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Women at lower risk of breast cancer after ovarian cancer diagnosis, research shows
25 Jul 2024
Women treated for ovarian cancer caused by an inherited faulty gene have a lower risk of developing breast cancer following that treatment, new research from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and The University of Manchester has revealed.
Scientists make potential breast cancer breakthrough after preserving tissue in gel
20 May 2024
The Guardian: Scientists say they have a made a potentially “gamechanging” breakthrough in breast cancer research after discovering how to preserve breast tissue outside the body for at least a week.
The Breast CANcer Risk Assessment in Younger women (BCAN-RAY) study - Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) Blog
15 May 2024
Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) blog on BCAN-RAY: A study looking at improving the risk assessment of breast cancer in younger women.
Sarah Harding’s legacy identifies young women at increased risk of breast cancer
14 May 2024
The groundbreaking cancer research project launched in memory of the late Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding is already successfully identifying young women at increased risk of breast cancer after just one year of opening.
Researchers have furthered our understanding of how the biological clock affects breast cancer
16 Apr 2024
Researchers funded by Breast Cancer Now have further uncovered how the biological clock affects breast cancer growing and spreading. This new knowledge could help us find new and better ways to treat the disease.
Spotlight on Dr Hannah Harrison: Paving the Way in Breast Cancer Prevention Research
01 Apr 2024
Dr Hannah Harrison is a research fellow at the University of Manchester and a member of The Manchester Breast Centre, with over 20 years’ experience in cancer research. She focuses on developing better ways to study breast cancer. Her current work, fully funded by Prevent Breast Cancer, introduces a new method to create models of human breast tissue to be used to test drugs to prevent breast cancer.
Widnes woman first person in Europe to trial new breast cancer drug
06 Mar 2024
Siobhain Howard is the first person in Europe to trial a new type of hormone therapy that prevents breast cancer from coming back. Current options are highly effective, but researchers like Siobhain's consultant, Dr Sacha Howell are assessing whether the new drug could be even more so....
News items from 2023
Manchester research into understanding how breast cancer starts
12 Oct 2023
Manchester is a key player in the monumental effort to progress research into both the prediction and prevention of breast cancer. In the first of a new series of blogs, created by Prevent Breast Cancer, Dr Andrew Gilmore explains what breast cancer actually is and how Manchester research is trying to understand what causes breast cancer and to stop it in its tracks.
Manchester scientists investigate how to stop triple negative breast cancer spreading
11 Oct 2023
Dr Sankari Nagarajan and her team have been awarded £249,992 from Breast Cancer Now to help discover why some triple-negative breast cancers spread to other parts of the body and whether existing drugs can be repurposed to stop this from happening.
Study improves accuracy of predictive breast cancer genetic test for Ashkenazi Jewish women
03 Jul 2023
Manchester researchers have developed a way to improve the accuracy of breast cancer genetic testing for women from Ashkenazi Jewish backgrounds.
Festschrift Meeting: A celebration of Professor Tony Howell’s academic achievements
03 Jul 2023
On Friday 30th June, Manchester Breast Centre (MBC) hosted a Festschrift Meeting at the Oglesby Cancer Research Building to celebrate Professor Tony Howell’s academic achievements.
Sarah Harding legacy research project recruits first participant
27 Jun 2023
A pioneering cancer research project launched in memory of singer Sarah Harding, and made possible through funding from The Christie Charity Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal and Cancer Research UK, has recruited its first participant.
The Christie Paterson cancer research centre completes
22 May 2023
Following a devastating fire which caused significant damage to the Paterson cancer research facility in 2017, building work on the new Paterson building at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester has completed.
Targeting variant of common protein may dramatically boost effectiveness of breast cancer treatment
05 Jan 2023
A rare variant of a protein present in nearly all human cells may hold the key to improving the effectiveness of breast cancer treatment, according to University of Manchester research funded by Breast Cancer Now. This discovery, published today (5 January 2023) in Oncogene, is the first time scientists have identified that targeting RAC1B, a variant of the RAC1 protein, could be a potential way of improving treatment for breast cancer.
News items from 2022
Aged under 35? Testers needed to trial a new app
23 Nov 2022
An exciting study, led by Mary Pegington, a Breast Cancer Research Dietitian, is looking for volunteers to trial a new app.
One in Two podcast -"Breast Cancer with Professor Gareth Evans: Should all women be screened equally?"
03 Oct 2022
One in Two: A Manchester Cancer Research Podcast. In this episode we speak to Professor Gareth Evans about the importance of breast cancer screening, as well as the risk predictors of breast cancer as he answers the question: Should all women be screened equally for breast cancer?
Guidelines on breast cancer surgery need revision, find researchers
22 Sep 2022
Current international breast cancer surgery guidelines need urgent revision, according to a meta-analysis of 68 studies comprising 112,140 patients by University of Manchester researchers.
Father and son doctors provide care for the same patient for over 4 decades
18 Jul 2022
A Tameside pensioner, who has been diagnosed with 5 different types of cancer in the past 35 years, has paid tribute to the doctors and researchers who have given her hope, including father and son consultants Tony and Sacha Howell.
Case study: Unravelling breast cancer metastasis in the lab
01 Jul 2022
Dr Hannah Harrison uses a novel cell culture system to reveal how breast cancer creates perfect conditions for it to spread in the body – and how we can stop this from happening.
PROCAS 2
24 May 2022
PROCAS 2 launched in 2017 with a key aim to assess the feasibility of implementing a breast cancer risk stratification programme into a routine NHS setting. We talk to Prof. David French about his research into the effects of embedding such a programme.
MFT Cancer Professor features in Julia Bradbury breast cancer documentary
28 Apr 2022
Professor Gareth Evans features in a documentary following TV presenter Julia Bradbury’s personal breast cancer journey, where he discusses risk factors, genetic testing and SNPs to help Julia understand her cancer risk.
Aiding Breast Cancer Prevention in Under-supported Groups
20 Apr 2022
University of Manchester Research IT Mobile Development Service have been working with research dietician, Mary Pegington at The Nightingale Centre, Wythenshawe Hospital on an app which targets women under the age of 35 with a family history of breast cancer – a group for whom there is little support at present.
News items from 2021
Dr Chiara Francavilla, Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Research Fellow
20 Oct 2021
Congratulations to Dr Chiara Francavilla, who has been awarded an extension to her Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Research Fellowship.
Aspirin may help treat aggressive breast cancer
18 Aug 2021
Aspirin may help fight aggressive breast cancer by making hard-to-treat tumours more responsive to anti-cancer drugs, doctors say. A team at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, in Manchester, are beginning a trial with triple-negative breast-cancer patients.
Early breast cancer care largely safe and effective in pandemic
29 Mar 2021
A UK-wide study involving patients with early breast cancer has shown their care was no less safe and effective than before the pandemic started.
News items from 2020
But….what about secondary breast cancer?
23 Oct 2020
In this blog written for Breast Cancer Awareness month, Dr Angelica Santiago Gomez, a Postdoctoral Researcher in Professor Rob Clarke’s lab, talks about her research in secondary breast cancer.
Manchester cancer professor receives honour from Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
21 Oct 2020
Manchester cancer researcher Professor Gareth Evans was recently recognised for his work in advancing women’s health, after receiving a prestigious honorary fellowship by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Drug target for aggressive breast cancer found
27 Jul 2020
A team of British and American scientists have discovered a way to slow the growth of breast cancer stem cells in the lab. The study led by Dr Bruno Simões and Professor Rob Clarke from The University of Manchester could eventually lead to combination drug therapies on previously untreatable breast cancers.
Scientists stop breast cancer cells from spreading in the lab
13 Feb 2020
Biologists have discovered a way to stop cells from one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer spreading in the lab. The results of the study of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by the team from the Universities of Manchester, Glasgow and Sheffield and funded by Breast Cancer Now are published in Oncogene.
Dr Rachel Eyre awarded the 2019 Sir Antony Driver Prize
03 Feb 2020
Dr Rachel Eyre has been awarded the 2019 Sir Antony Driver Prize which is awarded each year to a Breast Cancer Now researcher who has shown an incredible commitment to their field of research.
Novel drug inspired by cruciferous vegetables could reverse drug resistance in oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer
27 Jan 2020
New laboratory research has found that a drug based on a natural compound found in broccoli, kale and other cruciferous vegetables could reverse or even prevent breast cancer becoming resistant to hormone therapy.
New research improves risk prediction, prevention and treatment of breast cancer
02 Jan 2020
Women screened for breast cancer could be given greater information on how likely they are to develop breast cancer, possible treatments to reduce their risk, and if it did develop, how likely it will respond to different treatments, according to new research.
Arthritis drugs could be repurposed to help prevent breast cancer spreading to the bone, study suggests
01 Jan 2020
Drugs commonly used to treat arthritis may help to prevent breast cancer spreading to the bone, where it is incurable, new research suggests.
Archived News Items
Researchers identify a novel type of genetic change resulting in inherited breast cancer
03 Aug 2018
Researchers from the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre have identified a new mechanism which switches off a gene in families affected by breast and ovarian cancer.
Genetic test could give women a more accurate breast cancer risk when combined with standard screening
25 Jan 2018
New Manchester-led research shows a promising genetic test, when combined with mammograms, could provide a more accurate breast cancer risk in women attending routine breast cancer screening.
Manchester scientists given funding to research how to stop breast cancer spreading to bone
13 Oct 2017
University of Manchester scientist Dr Robert Clarke was given the grant by Breast Cancer Now on Secondary Breast Cancer Awareness Day and will use the grant of more than £195,000 for his research on breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs)
New test set to transform breast cancer prevention
09 Oct 2017
Women who have a family history of breast cancer are set to benefit from a new genetic test at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Manchester scientist to study how ‘hibernating’ breast cancer cells evade treatment
12 Jul 2017
A leading Manchester scientist has been awarded a grant worth over £185,000 by Breast Cancer Now to investigate how breast cancer cells are able to hibernate for years before returning elsewhere in the body.
Inbuilt Body Clocks Link Breast Stiffness to Cancer Risks
31 Jan 2017
University of Manchester biologists have discovered that breast tissues have 24-hour body clocks, and that several hundred genes are regulated in a daily cycle.
University of Manchester Minute Lectures Series
04 Jul 2016
Take a look at the work being done in our Manchester Breast Centre affiliated labs
Could 5:2 diet play a role in preventing breast cancer?
17 Jun 2016
"Women who follow the 5:2 diet 'could reduce their risk of breast cancer','' the Mail Online reports.
Artist joins forces with Manchester Breast Centre to create new project to support breast cancer
08 Apr 2016
A Wilmslow artist has created a new project which she hopes will empower those battling breast cancer.
Combination of lapatinib and trastuzumab shrinks HER2 positive breast cancer significantly in 11 days after diagnosis
11 Mar 2016
Approximately a quarter of women with HER2 positive breast cancer, who were treated with a combination of the targeted drugs lapatinib and trastuzumab before surgery and chemotherapy, saw their tumours shrink significantly or even disappear, according to results from a Manchester-led trial.
Delving deeper into breast density
03 Mar 2016
Researchers in Manchester have been exploring the causes of high breast density – a known risk factor for breast cancer – that could reveal new ways to prevent the disease.
Breast screening recommendation for women with cancer-causing syndrome
07 Dec 2015
Researchers in Manchester have found that women with an inherited genetic syndrome are at increased risk of developing breast cancer and should be considered for earlier screening.
Manchester breast cancer clinic attributes increased uptake of double mastectomies to Angelina Jolie effect
24 Nov 2015
Researchers at a breast cancer prevention clinic in Manchester have observed an increased uptake of preventative double mastectomies since May 2013, when Angelina Jolie announced that she had undergone the procedure.
Cancer scientist appointed by President Obama visits Manchester
24 Oct 2015
Professor Max Wicha a leading breast cancer specialist from the University of Michigan, has been at The University of Manchester to discuss collaborations and deliver a keynote address to scientists.
Developing a gel that mimics human breast for cancer research
07 Oct 2015
Scientists at the Universities of Manchester and Nottingham have been funded to develop a gel that will match many of the biological structures of human breast tissue, to advance cancer research and reduce animal testing.
New approach found to tackle breast cancer hormone therapy resistance
17 Sep 2015
University of Manchester researchers funded by Breast Cancer Now have discovered a new explanation as to why women with oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer develop resistance to hormone treatment, and a potential new approach to overcome the problem.
New drug combination shows promise for breaking breast cancer resistance
20 Apr 2015
Researchers from The University of Manchester working with drug development company Evgen Pharma, have developed a new combination of drugs which could overcome treatment resistance and relapse in breast cancer.
Potential for prediction of progression for early form of breast cancer
15 Apr 2015
Scientists in Manchester have identified a way to potentially predict which patients with an early form of breast cancer will experience disease progression.
Researchers identify new ways to drain cancer’s ‘fuel tank’
25 Nov 2014
Scientists at The University of Manchester have discovered a potential weakness in cancer’s ability to return or become resistant to treatment, by targeting the ‘fuel’ part of stem cells which allows tumours to grow.
Seminars
Date:
22 January 2025
,
14
:
00
Speaker:
Mark Clemons & John Hilton
From:
Canada
Title:
TBC
Host:
Sacha Howell
Date:
12 February 2025
,
00
:
00
Speaker:
Andrew Tutt
From:
The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London
Title:
TBC
Host:
Rob Clarke