Campaign successes

Screening finds most breast cancers early, when survival is almost 100%. But for 4 years in a row, the NHS haven't met its target for how many women should be screened for breast cancer in England.

With the support of over 55,000 campaigners, we successfully called on NHS England to deliver a national breast screening awareness campaign, to encourage more women to attend their appointment when invited.

We were worried that the government wasn’t doing enough to ensure people were diagnosed as quickly as possible.

That’s why we called on them to introduce a truly ambitious target for how long it should take for people to have breast cancer diagnosed or ruled out. Thanks to the campaign, hospitals are expected to give results within 28 days for over 90% of people who’ve been referred urgently.

For too long, women living with triple negative secondary breast cancer faced a lack of effective treatment options.

The drug, Trodelvy, offered women the potential of more time to live, but it was provisionally rejected for routine use on the NHS in England. Thanks to the backing of almost 115,000 people, we helped get the decision reversed and Trodelvy was approved.

In 2022, olaparib was provisionally rejected for use on the NHS in England.

Olaparib is a potentially life-saving primary breast cancer drug that could reduce the risk of cancer returning or progressing to incurable secondary breast cancer. Over 70,000 campaigners backed our call for it to be made available. Thanks to their support, olaparib was approved for routine use on the NHS in England in 2023, and the rest of the UK promptly followed suit.

In 2017, the secondary breast cancer drug, Kadycla, was at risk of removal from the NHS in England. And in Scotland, it was rejected for routine use, meaning it wouldn’t be made available at all.

We called on the drug company and medicines regulators, NICE and the SMC, to ensure the drug was available for patients across the UK. Thanks to our campaigners, the drug was approved in both nations.