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The future of breast cancer is down to you too

With breast cancer still cutting short over 11,500 lives each year, we urgently need to raise awareness of what women can do to reduce their risk.


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Baroness Delyth Morgan

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in the UK. Thanks to research progress, more women are surviving – in spite of the fact that more are being diagnosed than ever before.

If we all act now, we believe that by 2050, everyone who develops breast cancer will live – and live well. And while Breast Cancer Now continues to fund research to prevent, detect and treat the disease better, we’re also encouraging people across the UK to play their own part.

If we all act now, we believe that by 2050, everyone who develops breast cancer will live.

Over 50,000 women are diagnosed with the disease each year, most after spotting a sign or symptom and getting it checked by their GP. But less than half of women in the UK check their breasts regularly and we continue to lag behind other European countries on early detection.

How to be breast aware

Breast cancer is at a tipping point and we need to take action. If we can help more women know how to be breast aware, and encourage more to attend screening when invited, many more lives could be saved.

Touch Look Check: get to know what looks and feels normal for you.

That’s why we’re encouraging all women to Touch Look Check: get to know what looks and feels normal for you, check regularly and report anything unusual to your doctor. Because, whether it’s a lump, nipple discharge or a change in shape that’s spotted first, the earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the better the chance of successful treatment.

Reduce your own risk

What can we all do to reduce our risk? There are some factors we can’t change, like our age. But if, as a nation, we can get our pulses racing daily, maintain a healthy weight and cut down the amount of alcohol we drink, we can make a real difference to the number of us going through this devastating disease.

To find out more about breast checking, screening and reducing your risk of breast cancer, visit breastcancernow.org/tlc

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