Secondary Breast Cancer

Debate between John Milne and Clive Betts

Thursday 11th June 2026 Westminster Hall

[John Milne (Horsham) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I want to focus on something that sits at the heart of improving outcomes for people living with secondary breast cancer: data, research and recognition. That especially applies to people suffering from lobular breast cancer.

Last year, my office asked the Government whether the new national audit of metastatic breast cancer would provide a breakdown by breast cancer subtype and hormone receptor status. The response from the Department of Health and Social Care was striking. The Government have effectively admitted that the data is simply not there in any complete or meaningful form. There is still no clear national picture of how many people are living with different forms of secondary breast cancer, what treatments they receive or the outcomes they face. That matters because, if we cannot accurately count metastatic breast cancer patients, we cannot properly plan services, understand needs, target research funding or develop treatments. We cannot fix what we do not measure.

That is especially true for lobular breast cancer. Invasive lobular carcinoma is the second most common form of breast cancer. Twenty-two people are diagnosed with it every day in the UK, yet it remains chronically under-researched and poorly understood. Unlike ductal breast cancer, lobular cancer often does not form a distinct lump. It grows in thin, single-file patterns, making it much harder to detect on standard mammograms and often leading to delayed diagnosis.

Secondary lobular breast cancer also presents further challenges because it tends to be found in untypical places, such as the liver, lungs, brain, bladder and even the eyes, whereas other types of breast cancer spread mostly to the bones. Despite those key biological differences, there is still no specific treatment pathway designed for lobular breast cancer patients. That is extraordinary, considering how many women are affected.

For too long, secondary and metastatic lobular breast cancer has existed in a blind spot. Historically, cancer registries have focused on primary diagnoses and have often failed to track recurrence or progression properly. Mandatory reporting has improved matters somewhat over the last decade, but huge gaps remain. That is why the work of campaigners and researchers has been so important.

I especially want to recognise and pay tribute to Dr Susan Michaelis, founder of the Lobular Moon Shot Project. She was one of my Horsham constituents, and she sadly died of lobular breast cancer almost a year ago. Susan was relentless in pushing this issue into public view. She understood that, without data, dedicated research and recognition that lobular breast cancer is different, progress would remain unacceptably slow. Her work has already helped encourage NHS England to release the first dedicated statistics on lobular breast cancer, but much more needs to happen.

This is about more than statistics. It is about people living for years with secondary breast cancer while feeling invisible within the system. Better subtype data would help us understand metastatic disease properly. Better research would improve diagnosis and, ultimately, dedicated treatment pathways for lobular breast cancer could help us move closer to what patients want to hear most of all: that their cancer is not just treatable, but curable.

The Lobular Moon Shot Project is looking for just £20 million over five years to fund research into the basic biology of lobular breast cancer. Researchers at the Manchester Breast Centre are ready and willing to take on the mission—they could start tomorrow. The Lobular Moon Shot Project is supported by more than 460 sitting MPs, more than can be found on any other single issue. All it needs now is for the Government to press the button. While we wait for that, women face poorer outcomes and require medications that were actually designed for other types of cancer, which cost upwards of £3,000 per month. Now is the time for the Government to commit to front-loaded funding to save lives, save money for the NHS and, most of all, demonstrate to those women that they matter. I ask the Minister for her support in finding the modest investment required to find answers for this very common but, sadly, much-neglected disease.

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

I am supposed to be neutral in the Chair, but I think I am allowed to give a particularly warm welcome to Ashley Dalton.