Breast Cancer Now claims it will wipe out the disease by 2050

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Breast Cancer Now campaign vows to eradicate deaths by disease by 2050
But medical experts have warned that a complete cure may be further away
Some say promise may even discourage women from being responsible
One described the campaign as a 'nice message dreamed up by a PR team'

Published: 16:01 EST, 27 June 2015 | Updated: 04:05 EST, 29 June 2015

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'Realistic goal': Alex Jones, who was diagnosed with cancer at just 23, in a scene from the film

A haunting new campaign film from charity Breast Cancer Now features real women who have been diagnosed with the disease voicing a pledge to eradicate breast cancer deaths by 2050.

In the emotional clip, entitled The Last One, each woman says she won’t be the last one to endure endless tests, break the terrible news to her children, or lose a breast to the disease. Perhaps the most poignant of them all is Alex Jones, who at just 25 cannot be cured.

Gazing directly at the camera, she says that she won’t be the last one to die from breast cancer, but that one day ‘there will be a last one’.

The message is clear – and one that campaigners hope will spur the public to fund much-needed research into new treatments for those cases most difficult to tackle.

But medical experts have questioned the campaign’s 2050 mission, claiming a complete cure may be much further away and that the promise might even ‘discourage women from taking responsibility for their own health’.

Alex, recruited to the campaign via a Facebook appeal, was eager to appear as – due to her age – her symptoms were initially dismissed by doctors. She is having chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but the disease has spread.

Alex, an IT analyst from Manchester, who appears with her mother Christine, 56, and her 19-year-old sister Phoebe, said: ‘I was shown the full script beforehand and I understood how powerful the words I had to say would be. I think their pledge to stop breast cancer deaths by 2050 is amazing.

‘I don’t think I’ll be around at that point – but I really wish I could be.’

Breast Cancer Now is a ‘super charity’, formed from the recent merging of two existing charities, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Campaign.

Despite the positive intentions, Dr Charles Coombes, Professor of Medical Oncology at Imperial College London, and a leading breast cancer researcher, is sceptical.

He said: ‘It’s a nice message dreamed up by their PR team but it’s very optimistic. We've reduced the breast cancer death rate by 50 per cent over the past three decades so if progress continues at the same rate you could say this would be achievable. But it’s going to be more difficult from now on.’

He added: ‘This advert should come with a warning attached. Women shouldn’t think I can stop going to the gym and eating sensibly because Breast Cancer Now is going to have drugs for it. It’s not just research that’s going to help but changing lifestyle.’

HEALTH COMMENT by DR ELLIE CANNON

We have made astonishing leaps forward in treatment and prevention of breast cancer over the past 40 years that has seen death rates fall dramatically – and charities have played a huge part in making this happen.

All those pink ribbons sold at supermarket check-outs and night-time sponsored walks add up to medical advances.

So could 2050 be the year that the last woman dies of breast cancer? It’s a great goal, but no one can really say for sure. Advanced cases like Alex’s – missed by doctors until too late, because symptoms are vague and disease in the young is so rare – will continue to be very hard to treat. Research is only one part of the picture.

Last week, NHS advisory body the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said 5,000 lives a year could be saved if GPs rather than only consultants were allowed to order cancer tests, which I obviously agree with.

But some women don’t turn up for screening tests, even when offered.

One day there will be a ‘last one’ to die. But only if we all pull together to make it happen.

Lester Barr, consultant breast cancer surgeon at the Christie Hospital in Manchester and chairman of Genesis Cancer Prevention agrees. He said: ‘A cure is potentially achievable, but we have no guarantee so prevention is better in our view.’

Breast Cancer Now insist the target is achievable.

‘We believe 2050 is an ambitious, yet realistic goal,’ said a spokeswoman. ‘Crucially, though, we will only be able to achieve this through the passion and generosity of our supporters and through collaboration with others: scientists, clinicians and the rest of the sector.’

Alex was first diagnosed at the age of just 23 but she had been suffering with symptoms for three years.

‘I first noticed a lump in my right breast when I was 20,’ she said. ‘I was also getting discharge from my nipple so my GP referred me to a breast clinic for a check-up. I was given a physical examination but no scan and told I had lumpy boobs and that I could have an operation but I wouldn’t be able to breast feed in later life, so I declined.’ Over the next three years, pain in her armpit and breast got steadily worse and she went to a different GP.

The doctor sent her straight to a one-stop clinic where she was given a mammogram and a biopsy – and later the devastating diagnosis.

Her desire to help others by raising awareness of the early symptoms kicked in and Alex threw herself into writing a blog. It takes a humorous but honest look at her experiences and now has 4,000 subscribers. In March she learned that the cancer had spread to her bones but she hasn’t asked doctors what her long-term prognosis might be. ‘I’ve never asked and no one’s ever said. I don’t like words like terminal and palliative,’ said Alex.

‘I do think the campaign has a realistic goal. They are making so many advances every week. As long as the money goes in to it I think they will get there. It’s so important.

‘So many people have breast cancer and too many are dying from the disease.’

breastcancernow.org; alexandratiffanyjones.tumblr.com

Breast Cancer Now vows to eradicate deaths by disease by 2050

SPA DOCTOR TREATS.... CHAPPED SKIN

What’s the problem?

Changeable summer weather and air conditioning can leave the skin dehydrated – to the extent that it becomes rough, sore and even chapped. Add the skin-wrecking experience of air travel and jet-lag to the equation and you have a recipe for discomfort. Sensitive areas like the mouth and also skin that flexes – the elbows and knees – are most prone, and it doesn’t look nice either. After a flight to New York I headed straight to a spa that offers a Japanese treatment for the condition.

Where’s the solution?

Robert De Niro’s The Greenwich Hotel, 377 Greenwich Street, New York. Their Shibui Spa was built using traditional Japanese techniques in plaster and straw. There’s no word for ‘Shibui’ in English but it roughly means a low-key beauty, something that is not grand, yet is rich. It is also prime star spotting territory: in one day I saw Hollywood stars Jennifer Connolly and Keanu Reeves in the lobby.

What’s the treatment?

The Bamboo Glow (120 minutes, £254) which uses multiple techniques to refresh, rehydrate and restore the skin.

First, the therapist scrubs you with bamboo and ginger grass which you then shower off with a yuzu sea algae wash.

The sea algae firms, heals and increases skin elasticity. The ginger grass stimulates the circulation and warms the body. The bamboo sap hydrates the skin and promotes much-needed cell regeneration.

It instantly feels soothing, and just what the body needs.

Then you lower yourself into an enormous tub to soak in a hot mint mineral bath while sipping sparkling Yuzu juice – a lemon-like citrus fruit rich in health-restoring antioxidants and Vitamin C.

This is followed by a moisture-binding massage – I opted for an Ashiatsu which involved the therapist walking in bare feet up and down my back – great for removing any back pain.

I left beyond relaxed and scented with bergamot, vetiver and lime.

My body felt whole again and the skin on my face was refreshed and restored to a condition that could now be revealed in public once again. I felt ready to take on Manhattan. More details at thegreenwichhotel.com.

WHY SHOULD I TAKE GINKGO BILOBA

Studies suggest ginkgo biloba – a Chinese herbal remedy used for thousands of years – could have brain boosting properties, improving memory, speed of thinking, and attention span in healthy adults.

Dosages of 120mg to 600mg per day are recommended for cognitive function improvement in healthy young people.

There is also some evidence that taking ginkgo leaf extract can improve colour vision in people with retinas that have been damaged by diabetes.

DOES BIRTHDAY CAKE REALLY GIVE CHILDREN A SUGAR RUSH?

Paediatrician Dr Nelly Ninis at St Mary’s, Paddington, says: ‘Some children are less able to tolerate sweet things as they are sensitive to fluctuations in their levels of insulin – and rapid change in levels in the blood is known to cause mood swings.

But it’s more likely that the vast majority of children in this environment would simply be excited – especially if their mothers are particularly controlling about them never normally eating sweets.