October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, with a key message for all ages to 'check, check and check again'. Survival rates for breast cancer in the UK are improving, having doubled in the past fifty years. However, it remains the second most treated cancer at Royal Surrey, with over 2,700 treatments administered in the twelve months leading up to September 2026. Multiple teams at the hospital support patients through both primary and secondary breast cancer.
According to an NHS report, 60% of breast cancers are diagnosed following GP referrals, and 30% are detected through the NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP). At Royal Surrey, the majority of patient referrals come via GPs to the 'One Stop Breast Clinic'. Here, examinations, imaging, and biopsies are conducted if necessary. The hospital runs three such clinics weekly, providing 87 new appointments.
Jayne's experience exemplifies the referral process. She visited her GP in April 2020, amidst the national focus on COVID-19. She was immediately referred, underwent a biopsy, and received her breast cancer diagnosis. 'I had an open wound, not a lump or anything you’d necessarily associate with breast cancer,' Jayne recalled. 'The consultant said, I’m going to have to operate and it all happened so quickly I didn’t really have time to worry about it, I just thought, right, ok, get on and do it.'
Jayne's late husband nicknamed her 'bulldog', a characteristic she credits, along with the support from her allocated Royal Surrey nurse, for helping her through surgery and initial chemotherapy, while also coping with his death. Jayne's cancer had spread, and she is now on a maintenance drug, receiving an injection every three weeks for long-term disease management. 'It doesn’t dictate my life,' she stated. 'Thanks to the care at Royal Surrey, I now have a thigh injection and am in and out of hospital in half an hour.'
Her treatment regimen allows her to travel extensively. 'A couple of years ago it was Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Then a boat for three weeks in the Maldives and this year I’m going to Sri Lanka,' she said. 'The Royal Surrey team are so supportive and have changed the dates of my injections sometimes very slightly so I can have them the day before and day after I get back.' She added, 'The team at Chilworth Day Unit is brilliant. I know them all by name and they ask me when I’m next off; I say, 45 days, 3 hours and 3 minutes! I show them all my photos when I’m back.'
“"Anything that happens around the boobs, a spot, a cut a mole - anything that looks different could be a warning sign - get it checked."
For further information, visit the Royal Surrey breast cancer web pages, Breast Cancer Now, or Coppafeel!
