breast cancer Archives - Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust

Fashion fundraiser for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust spotlights secondary breast cancer

Posted on 21 October 202630 October 2026 by Zach Smith

_{Jane Horwood from Trash Chic, photography: Richard Marsham}

“If there’s one message I want to share, it’s this: if you’ve had breast cancer and experience any new and unexplained symptoms – in my case back pain – insist on a referral to a specialist who can get you in for an MRI. Be proactive, be persistent, be demanding if you have to be.”

With an estimated 61,000 people in the UK currently living with metastatic breast cancer (Breast Cancer Now 2025), Cambridge’s Jane Horwood is sharing her story to raise vital awareness this Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Diagnosed with secondary cancer in her spine at the end of August, three days before her 67^th birthday, the news came after five months of worsening back pain which eventually left her struggling to walk.

“I’d lifted a deadweight at the gym and initially thought it must be that; that it was muscular. I had an X-ray and that didn’t show anything, so I was reassured. But the pain just got worse, not better,” explains Jane, who explored every possible avenue to find the cause and a solution – GP visits, painkillers, physio, osteopathy, acupuncture, massage therapy, meditation, yoga.

Founder of preloved fashion brand Trash Chic, Jane would usually be flying around sourcing stock and staging pop-ups, but by August, she was practically housebound. “I remember this one morning, a Tuesday morning, when I couldn’t get out of bed,” recounts Jane. “I was screaming, I was in agony. I mean I’d been struggling for a while, but that morning it was just hell. My husband, Robert, came up and said ‘What’s going on?’ and I said ‘It’s just crazy, I can’t stand it, there’s something not right at all’.”

Finally self-referring for an MRI, “the phone rang at 9am next morning and it was the doctor saying ‘You need to come down here’. Suddenly I was having this bombshell thrown at me: ‘Now it’s just a case of pain management, basically.’ I was like ‘What???’ – I could not believe it. When I got home I Googled ‘lower back pain + history of breast cancer + osteoporosis’ and what came up? Cancer of the spine with fractures. Had it not been for that MRI, I don’t know if or when the cancer would have been discovered.”

The MRI had revealed secondaries in Jane’s clavicles, spine, ribs and pelvis and three spinal fractures. When she was first treated for breast cancer in 2024, alerted by “this funny wrinkly patch on one boob”, no migratory cells were detected in her lymph nodes. When surgeons performed her lumpectomy, they excised the nearest nodes “just to be on the safe side really – it was very much a case of no stone left unturned”. Radiotherapy and medication followed. Making a good recovery and with a recent check-up mammogram coming back all-clear, “the cancer was honestly the last thing on my mind,” adds Jane.

“It’s hard not to feel angry when you see this disease stealing from people you love. But after Jo’s death and Jane’s diagnosis, I wanted to channel that energy into something positive – they’re both such positive people, they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“If I can give one practical piece of advice, it’s to take someone with you along to your appointments. Often they can see what you can’t see and they can advocate for you. I thought I’d made it very clear how much pain I was in, but when you’re in the middle of it and you’re exhausted, sometimes you need someone else to say: ‘Do you realise how bad this has got? Something’s really wrong.’”

As well as having radiotherapy and bone-strengthening drugs, Jane has opted into a trial. Needing to focus on her health, she’s made the difficult decision to close her fashion brand – Trash Chic, known for selling one-of-a-kind vintage, preloved and upcycled clothing. Wanting the business ‘to go out on a high and do some good too’, she is selling all her remaining stock and donating the proceeds to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust.

Taking place in the main mall of Cambridge’s Grand Arcade on Saturday 24 October, 10am to 5pm, all proceeds from the closing down sale will go towards supporting cancer services at Addenbrooke’s, including helping to build the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.

With every piece sourced personally by Jane, a former fashion and graphic designer with an eye for cool and confidence-boosting clothing, shoppers can expect to find everything from faux furs and sequin kimonos to slogan tees and camo trousers. Adds Jane: “Organised by my friend Alice Ryan, editor of Velvet magazine, and hosted by the brilliant team at Grand Arcade, it’s a chance not only to support this important cause, but also to bag a real bargain: everything on the rails will be 50% off.”

Trash Chich modelled by Luana Martignon, Method Studios Photography

The impetus to raise both funds and awareness was increased when, in the same week Jane received her diagnosis, a mutual friend of hers and Alice’s, Jo Thorndike, died suddenly and swiftly from secondary cancer. Like Jane, Jo previously had breast cancer, undergoing treatment in the early days of the pandemic. After developing abdominal pain in July, she ended up being admitted to hospital where tests revealed metastases in both her bones and organs. She died on August 26. She was 57.

“Jo was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago. It was devastating but in a strange, profound way, it also sharpened her perspective. It gave her the freedom to talk about what mattered… and she lived, really lived, with courage, humour and clarity,” her husband, Peter, says.

Alongside husband Peter, her partner of four decades, Jo was co-founder of art-meets-fashion brand Community of Creatives. She’d quit a corporate career to live a more creative life, first becoming a florist, then a stylist and, with Peter providing pop-art flair, an upcycler of preloved clothes. The venture took her and Peter to London Fashion Week with a group of students they’d mentored as part of an Oxfam project: the catwalk not only showcased planet-friendly fashion at its brightest and best, it gave confidence to young creatives just starting out. It was, says Peter, ‘pure Jo’.

“Jo was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago. It was devastating but in a strange, profound way, it also sharpened her perspective. It gave her the freedom to talk about what mattered… and she lived, really lived, with courage, humour and clarity,” he says.

“Jo would want to be remembered exactly as she was: passionate, feisty, loving, intuitive, bold, creative, generous and utterly herself. A woman who lived authentically and with intention. A woman who was beautiful and made things beautiful. A woman who loved deeply. A woman who changed the world around her in ways both quiet and dazzling.”

Says Alice: “I met both Jane and Jo through Velvet: their clothes have appeared many times in our shoots and Jo even modelled for one of our covers. Over time, both these women have become far more than contacts and collaborators; they’re my friends.

“It’s hard not to feel angry when you see this disease stealing from people you love. But after Jo’s death and Jane’s diagnosis, I wanted to channel that energy into something positive – they’re both such positive people, they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Helping Jane to organise this fundraiser, and helping raise awareness of secondary cancer in the process, is the least I can do. None of this would be possible without the support of Jane’s amazing friends, dozens of whom are volunteering their time to help on the sale day, or without the team at Grand Arcade, who are generously hosting us in the main mall.”

Jo and Peter modelling their clothing collections for Velvet at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, credit Elodie Giuge

Jane’s seasonal Trash Chic pop-up shop has become a fixture at Grand Arcade over recent years. “Jane is part of the Grand Arcade family, so as soon as we heard about the charity sale we wanted to help,” says the centre’s marketing manager Julie Kervadec.

“Jane has an incredible eye and Trash Chic will really be missed. This final pop-up is a chance to buy something beautiful for your wardrobe at a bargain price, knowing you’re supporting an important cause in the process – what could be better?”

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Around 59,400 people are diagnosed every year – that’s roughly 160 a day – and 1 in 7 UK women will be diagnosed with it at some point in their life (Beat Breast Cancer 2026).

“If there’s one message I want to share, it’s this: if you’ve had breast cancer and experience any new and unexplained symptoms – in my case back pain – insist on a referral to a specialist who can get you in for an MRI. Be proactive, be persistent, be demanding if you have to be.”

Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust has proudly funded many breast cancer projects over its 30-year history, including a £1.2m grant to seed-fund Professor Jean Abraham’s research into a new approach to treating breast cancers. The groundbreaking Personalised Breast Cancer Programme is now a multi-site programme across several hospitals and has helped change the lives of over 1,000 patients. In 2025, Professor Abraham announced that a ground-breaking trial had led to 100% survival rates for patients taking part in the three-year trial – an incredible result that draws a direct line back to that early funding that was made possible by the charity’s extraordinary fundraisers.

As well as sophisticated groundbreaking research, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust has also supported everyday improvements for breast cancer patients, including wrapping mammography machines so that they are less daunting to patients undertaking scans. Recently, the charity has funded the SPY Portable Scanning Equipment project which is looking at the benefits of using tech in breast surgery, which, among other benefits, is reducing the risk of patients needing to return to theatre for repeat surgery, and additional sentinel lymph node accuracy which is used to indicate whether a cancer has spread.

Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trustcontinues to raise funds that transform cancer services today, as well as raising money to help build the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. This new hospital will bring together world-leading cancer research and clinical care, helping to detect cancer earlier, develop more effective treatments, and improve outcomes for patients locally and around the world.

What: Trash Chic 50% off charity sale
Where: Main Mall, Grand Arcade, Cambridge
When: Saturday, October 24, 10am-5pm
Why: To raise money for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust in support of cancer services

Donate to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust

New Treatment Approach Shows Promise for Aggressive Breast Cancers

Posted on 13 May 202512 August 2025 by Paul White

A ground-breaking trial, funded with the help of ACT supporters, has led to a significant improvement in survival rates for patients with aggressive, inherited breast cancers. Cambridge researchers have discovered that a new treatment approach, involving chemotherapy followed by a targeted cancer drug before surgery, has resulted in a 100% survival rates for patients who took part in a trial three years post-surgery.

Published today in the journal Nature Communications, this discovery could become the most effective treatment to date for early-stage breast cancer patients with inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations. These types of breast cancers are notoriously difficult to treat, gaining public attention when actress Angelina Jolie, a BRCA1 carrier, underwent a preventative double mastectomy in 2013.

The current standard treatment aims to shrink the tumour using chemotherapy and immunotherapy before removing the tumour through surgery. However, the first three years after surgery are critical, with the highest risk of relapse after death. The Partner trial took a different approach, demonstrating two key innovations: the addition of olaparib and chemotherapy pre-surgery, and the benefits of careful timing of treatments. Olaparib, a targeted cancer drug taken as tablets, is already available on the NHS.

Led by Addenbrooke’s Hospital, part of Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge, the trial recruited patients from 23 NHS sites across the UK. Results show that leaving a 48-hour gap between chemotherapy and olaparib leads to better outcomes, possibly because the patient’s bone marrow has time to recover from chemotherapy while leaving the tumour cells susceptible to the targeted drug. Of the 39 patients who received chemotherapy followed by olaparib only one relapsed three years after surgery, and 100% survived. In comparison, the survival rate for the control arm was 88% three years after surgery.

Jackie Van Bochoven, a 59-year-old from South Cambridgeshire, was diagnosed in February 2019 with a small but aggressive tumour. She shared her experience: “When I had the diagnosis, I was completely shocked and numb. I thought about my children, and my mum and sister who were diagnosed with breast cancer. I was pretty worried. Six years on, I’m well and cancer-free. I’m back at work, enjoying life and spending time with my family. When you’ve had cancer, I think you look at life differently and every day is a bonus”.

**Patient Jackie Van Bochoven (second left) and her daughters – Danielle, Charlotte and Jocelyn (L to R)**
*Copyright: Cambridge University Hospitals*

The findings have the potential to be applied to other cancers caused by faulty copies of the BRCA genes, such as some ovarian, prostate, and pancreatic cancers. It may also have cost-saving benefits for the NHS, as patients currently offered olaparib take the drug post-surgery for 12 months, whereas patients on the trial took the tablets pre-surgery for 12 weeks.

**Professor Jean Abraham, Addenbrooke’s Hospital.**
*Copyright: Stillvision photography*

Professor Jean Abraham, Addenbrooke’s consultant and trial lead, expressed excitement about the potential of this new approach: “It is rare to have a 100% survival rate in a study like this and for these aggressive types of cancer. We’re incredibly excited about the potential of this new approach, as its crucial that we find a way to treat and hopefully cure patients who are diagnosed with BRCA1 and BRCA2 related cancers”.

Shelly Thake, CEO of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, which supported the Partner trial with funding from our kind supporters, said: “One of the greatest privileges we have as a charity is supporting transformative, pioneering and radical people. The finest minds in their fields whose research is shaping the future of healthcare, doing things differently so that we can stop people suffering from cancers we should be beating. Jean is one of those individuals, and her work developing personalised breast cancer treatments remains one of the most powerful examples of what ACT – and the wonderful people who donate to ACT – can make possible. This news gives hope to countless women who live with the fear of aggressive, inherited breast cancers. It is also a profound example of what the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital that we are currently fundraising for will make possible, and why there is nowhere else other than Cambridge where this hospital would be possible with its critical mass of clinicians, researchers, world-class hospitals and pioneering organisations such as the University and pharmaceutical companies”.

ACT supported Professor Abraham by funding her salary for two years, which enabled her to work on multiple breast cancer projects.

“That kind of support at that stage is a boost in that it gives you the feeling that someone believes in what you are doing. It is always good to get someone else to verify that your ideas are sound, and if people back it with money then that’s a very big statement of support. So, from my perspective, having ACT’s funding to support me was a very visible and real sign of the belief in my abilities and there’s no price you can put on that kind of confidence at that stage in your career.”

“Probably the most undervalued quality in science and medicine is determination and persistence because this wasn’t straight forward. We went to more than one drug company to get a drug; we didn’t always get the funding that we should have got and there have been a lot of hurdles.

We had to get through COVID – there’s been a lot that has happened. Some of the firms that were doing the work of testing went bust. A lot happens when you are trying to deliver a trial, so for anyone who is more junior and is thinking of a career as a clinical trialist or clinical academic, I would say, obviously you have to be smart and have general ideas, but fundamentally you have to be determined, persistent and not let other people’s inability to see what you see stop you. To have that belief in yourself and your team and to take the project forward I think is really important.”

Mark O’Connor, chief scientist in Early Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca, added: “The Partner trial highlights the importance of detecting and treating cancer early, and the value of innovative science in informing clinical trial design. While the findings need to be validated in a larger study, they’re incredibly exciting and have the potential to transform outcomes for patient populations who have unmet clinical needs”.

This collaboration between NHS, academia, and industry, reflects the vision of the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, a specialist cancer research hospital due to be built on Europe’s leading life sciences campus, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. It will bring clinical expertise from Addenbrooke’s Hospital together with world-class scientists from the University of Cambridge, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, and industry partners to create new diagnostics and treatments to detect the earliest signs of cancer and deliver personalised, precision medicine.

Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, commented: “One of the best ways that we can beat cancer sooner is by making more effective use of treatments that are already available to us. While this research is still in its infancy, it is an exciting discovery that adding olaparib at a carefully-timed stage of treatment can potentially give patients with this specific type of breast cancer more time with their loved ones. Research like this can help find safer and kinder ways to treat certain types of cancer. Further studies in more patients are needed to confirm whether this new technique is safe and effective enough to be used by the NHS”.

Professor Abraham and the team are now planning the next phase of the research, which will look to replicate the results in a larger study and confirm that the Partner approach offers a less toxic treatment for patients as well as being more cost-effective to the current standard of care. She said:

“All jobs have their moments. The privilege I have is that you are always grounded by your patients because no matter how tough you think you are having it, you know that your patients are having it a great deal tougher. And actually, the thing that should motivate you is not whether you can get an H paper or an H Comms paper (a metric used to measure the productivity and impact of a researcher’s publications), both of which we got, but actually it’s ‘will it make a difference to the people that you see every week in clinic?’ that should be your driver.”

The Partner trial was sponsored by Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge, funded by Cancer Research UK and AstraZeneca, and supported by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, and the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre.