Dr Charlene McShane, Dr Damian Bennett and their team want to understand what inequalities people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer face. This will help to provide support and help people and their loved ones navigate their diagnosis.
In this section
What's the challenge?
Secondary breast cancer happens when breast cancer spreads to another part of the body. And while it’s treatable, it currently can’t be cured.
We know that people living with secondary breast cancer face a number of issues, including poor physical wellbeing (like greater pain, fatigue and sexual issues) and emotional wellbeing. They can also feel isolated and excluded.
We need to do more to understand how people with secondary breast cancer feel, what inequalities they face, and how we can best support them. To make sure that everyone receives the best care.
We know so little about the health inequalities that surround secondary breast cancer, whether people are diagnosed later or treated differently because of their age, gender, ethnicity, income or education. All of these factors, and more, will impact their breast cancer experience. So we need to learn more to better support people with secondary breast cancer.
Dr Charlene McShane
The science behind the project
In the UK, we're still lacking accurate data on the number of people living with secondary breast cancer. This means there are significant gaps in knowledge about the number of people living with secondary breast cancer and how to best support them.
Charlene and her team, working together with people with secondary breast cancer and their caregivers, want to develop a wider and deeper understanding of secondary breast cancer in Northern Ireland.
They’re:
- Analysing data from the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry to understand secondary breast cancer. The researchers are looking at when people were diagnosed, how they were diagnosed and treated.
- Investigating the inequalities that exist in secondary breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. They want to understand if factors like education, income, disabilities, mental health and more have an impact.
- Interviewing people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer and their families to understand their experiences and needs.
- Working together with people with secondary breast cancer, their caregivers, healthcare professionals and patient advocacy groups to develop a resource to address key areas where their needs are not being met.
What difference will this project make?
Identifying the inequalities surrounding secondary breast cancer will help find the people that would benefit most from more support. Providing the right support and access to health services for these people could improve their treatment and wellbeing.
How many people could this project help?
Right now in the UK, we estimate that around 61,000 people are living with secondary breast cancer. While this study is happening in Northern Ireland, the learnings that it brings could be applied across the UK.
Creating fairer futures
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