Tanya Hutson and her husband are now able to enjoy themselves on holiday (Image: Tanya Hutson)
Mammograms failed to detect the breast cancer concealed in a 51-year-old woman’s breasts. Four years on from her diagnosis, she is calling on politicians to put their hands in their pockets to fund treatments that will help women like her before it’s too late.
Tanya Hutson attended a silent vigil in Westminster this week to highlight the 22 women in the UK who are diagnosed with lobular breast cancer every day. She did the same in 2025 and is disappointed that, in the year since then, there has been no progress towards the Government agreeing to fund a £20m five-year research project.
If the funding is approved by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the study would look at how lobular breast cancer forms, and detect weaknesses in the disease so treatments can be developed to attack it.
Mrs Hutson, from Guildford, said: “It’s really frustrating. Women are dying from this, and it’s because there is no research.
“Twenty million pounds sounds a lot of money, but, in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t. If they conducted research into this and developed targeted medicines for this particular cancer, it would save so much money and so many lives.
“Before I got breast cancer, I thought breast cancer was just breast cancer. I had no idea there were so many different strains. And so when I heard that the most difficult to detect is the one that isn’t being looked into, it blew my mind.
“The funding is an expense, but the money that society will effectively get back by having all these women alive for much longer far outweighs the £20m.
“My message to the Government is ‘put your hands in your pockets and just pay it. You know, that’s all you’ve got to do. And you’ll get us off your back. If you don’t, we’re going to carry on until we get this.”
The mother-of-three now volunteers with breast cancer charities to support other women who are battling the disease.
She was diagnosed on April 11, 2022, after finding a lump in her right breast. Tests revealed that the lump was only a fatty lump, but behind it were three tumours.
Tanya Hutson joined other women with lobular breast cancer at silent vigils today (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
Campaigners have taken their protest to Downing Street (Image: Getty)
And in her left breast they discovered ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a non-invasive, early-stage breast cancer (Stage 0) where abnormal cells are contained within milk ducts.
Medics did not think it had spread to her lymph nodes, but their worst fears were realised after one lymph node was removed and tested.
Mrs Hutson, who is now 55, said: “My nurse said to me, ‘Don’t worry, we’re not worried about your lymph nodes. If you wake up with a drain in, you know it’s all gone wrong. And I woke up with a drain in.
“I then made the decision to have just a single mastectomy, because I was happy that they’d taken out everything from the other side. And then two days before I was due to have my mastectomy, my doctor called and said we’re still happy for you to have a single mastectomy, but we have missed a spot.
“So, I decided to have a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction, taking fat from my tummy to make my boobs.
“Thank God I went for the double, because behind the bit that they had missed, they found another tumour, which was a lobular tumour, which hadn’t been picked up on any of the tests, hadn’t been picked up on the mammogram.
“What I find so frustrating, and what I don’t get, is, you know, lobular breast cancer is so different to all the other breast cancers, so why isn’t there any research into it? It doesn’t always show as a lump. It can show as like spiderwebs going through your boobs. You know, even when it is a lump, it’s just really hard for mammograms to pick up.”
Tanya Hutson now volunteers with breast cancer charities (Image: Tanya Hutson)
Tanya Hutson will be at the vigils in Westminster today (Image: Tanya Hutson)
Tanya Hutson has undergone a gruelling treatment regime (Image: Tanya Hutson)
The vigil was organised by the Lobular Moon Shot Project, an organisation founded by Dr Susan Michaelis and her husband Tristan Loraine.
Mr Loraine said: “The current one-size-fits-all approach to treating lobular breast cancer is failing patients. It is wasting resources and costing lives.
“I lost my wife, Susan, to lobular breast cancer last year, eight generic breast cancer treatments could not stop the disease progressing. She would be devastated to hear that little progress has been made. We met Wes Streeting five days after Susan died and were told that the Government supported this vital funding – but thousands of women in the UK are still waiting.
“The central issue remains unchanged: there is no ring-fenced funding for basic biology research into lobular breast cancer, and it’s letting down 15% of all breast cancer patients.”
A government spokesperson said: “Lobular breast cancer goes undetected in too many women and we are determined to back research that could transform outcomes for patients.
“Last week, Lord Vallance and Minister Hodgson – alongside government research funders – met with the Lobular Moon Shot Project to discuss how best to progress research in this vital area.
“More broadly, our National Cancer Plan puts research at the heart of improving outcomes – helping to bring the latest scientific breakthroughs into the NHS faster so that patients benefit from earlier diagnosis, more effective treatments, and better quality of life.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
