Dundee scientists to play part as cancer charity launches

Scientists in Dundee are part of the new charity Breast Cancer Now, which launches with the bold ambition to stop women dying from breast cancer by 2050.

The charity has been formed from the merger of Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Campaign and is now the largest breast cancer research charity in the UK.

It is currently investing £1.6 million in Scottish research, which will fund nine research projects across the country.

Despite huge advancements in treatments, the UK still has one of the lowest breast cancer survival rates in Western Europe.

More than 1,000 Scottish women die of breast cancer every year, primarily from secondary breast cancer.

To tackle this, scientists funded in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow are carrying out research to develop new treatments, as well as to improve existing ones and working out which treatments are most suitable for which patients.

This includes ground-breaking research at the Beatson Institute in Glasgow, which could hold the key to stopping breast cancer spreading.