The Patricia Swannell appeal

If you’d like to support our work around metastatic breast cancer, please email philanthropy@breastcancernow.org and we’ll be in touch.

Driven by a selfless passion and determination to make a difference for those who come after her, Patricia Swannell devoted the last precious eighteen months of her life to driving change for people affected by secondary breast cancer.

With the loving support of her family ‘The Patricia Swannell Appeal for Secondary Breast Cancer’ was set up in 2022 to fund critical work in:

• raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of metastatic (secondary) breast cancer

• supporting healthcare professionals with education and training

• developing better testing, diagnosis and treatment through funding research tackling the challenge of dormancy, so that we can understand why some breast cancer cells lay inactive, undetected, and unaffected by treatments for many years before reawakening and leading to secondary breast cancer

An estimated 61,000 people in the UK are living with metastatic or secondary breast cancer. Every month around 1,000 more women will run out of treatment options and tragically die of the disease.

While metastatic breast cancer is incurable, a prompt diagnosis can ensure patients get timely access to treatment and care which can help relieve their symptoms and dramatically improve their quality of life. Sadly, we know that far too often this is not the case.

Patricia’s strength and stoicism in living with metastatic breast cancer has inspired so many, and her unwavering commitment to raising awareness of metastatic breast cancer and bringing about change for people affected by metastatic breast cancer will live on through the extraordinary support she and her family continue to give to Breast Cancer Now.