A MUM who survived a rare form of breast cancer is backing a new campaign to speed up the search for a cure.
Rowina Dewan, of Ruddington, was diagnosed with "triple negative" breast cancer on her 35th birthday.
She said: "All sorts of things go through your head. They told me it was aggressive, they told me I'd need an operation.
"It was certainly the worst birthday present you could imagine."
Triple negative breast cancer is when doctors find a tumour which lacks the three main receptors normally found in breast cancers – oestrogen, progesterone and the human epidermal growth factor (HER2).
Most breast cancers are successfully treated with therapy which specifically targets these three elements.
Triple negative sufferers are given general chemotherapy.
Around 15 out of every 100 breast cancers are triple negative. Rowina, who has a 12-year-old son called Ryan Savage, was diagnosed in May last year and has since had a tumour removed and reconstructive surgery.
Cancer Research UK is supporting a clinical trial for women with triple negative breast cancer that has spread or has come back after treatment.
The trial is finding out whether a drug called carboplatin can slow the growth of triple negative cancer better than current treatments.
Consultant business manager Rowina, 35, did not have the drug but wants people to donate money so further research can be done. She said: "I want to do everything I can to urge people to fight back against this devastating disease. After three cycles of chemotherapy, I'm now cancer free and want to help other women in similar situations."
Every hour, around three people in the East Midlands are diagnosed with cancer. And with the number of sufferers set to rise steeply by 2030, Cancer Research UK has launched a new advertising campaign, which aims to raise money to accelerate its research, with TV, radio and print ads, and billboards, with the slogan: "One day we will beat cancer. Help us make it sooner."
Paul Wadsworth, Cancer Research UK East Midlands spokesman, said: "Our campaign aims to show that research is cancer's enemy. The more research we can do, the sooner we can beat the disease."
For more details, visit www.cruk.org.
