Breast cancer research in East London

I’m here to make sure that our study design and our data are representative of all women in East London

What has kept me in breast cancer research for the last 20 years? My colleagues, inspiring clinicians, patients who, when they are diagnosed with breast cancer, say ‘use our data, use our samples, because it would make a difference to someone else’.

Women from African and South Asian backgrounds can develop breast cancer younger than women of European ancestry, yet they remain underrepresented in cancer research. This means much of what we know about cancer risk, screening and treatment may not represent everyone. 

With our support, Professor Claude Chelala and her team are using genetic and health data to understand these inequalities. Their research has revealed differences in age at diagnosis and genetic changes linked to cancer, including changes that can be missed by existing tools. 

Claude’s team is now studying records from around 100,000 people attending breast assessment clinics at Barts Health to understand differences in diagnosis and follow-up across East London’s diverse communities. Their research could lead to earlier diagnosis, better genetic tests and more personalised care – helping ensure advances in cancer medicine benefit everyone.

I’m here for breast cancer research

My route into breast cancer research has been my fascination by the universe inside cells.

Basal-like breast cancer is an aggressive type of cancer. It often affects younger people and is more common among those from African or South Asian backgrounds – a core part of our East London population. This type of cancer grows quickly and is hard to treat with traditional methods like chemotherapy. 

With our support, Professor Cleo has been leading a research project along with the Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee, that is developing a new treatment. 

Called the “one-two punch”, it aims to halt tumour cell growth and can potentially make cancer cells visible to the immune system and easier to attack. This method could be a more targeted and effective treatment with fewer side effects, offering a better prognosis for patients. 

The team is now working with the Drug Discovery Unit and ValiRx to advance the new treatment and license it. This could have enormous benefits for patients very soon.

I’m here to give women the opportunity to contribute to their own cure

Breast cancer is just so common. I think everybody knows somebody who has been affected by breast cancer. I just felt that we should be doing something about it.

Breast cancer does not affect every community in the same way. In North East London, Black women with breast cancer have poorer outcomes than white women, but researchers still don’t fully understand why. Louise and her colleagues are studying cancers from Black, white and South Asian women to uncover the biological differences that could help explain these inequalities. 

Their research has already identified differences not only within tumours, but also in the surrounding cells, both of which can influence how a cancer behaves. These findings could open new ways to treat breast cancer, and develop tests that are more relevant to East London’s diverse communities. 

With support from Barts Charity, Louise is also helping lay the foundations for PharosAI. This will use carefully curated NHS data to develop and test AI tools that make decision-making for doctors more efficient.

By freeing up time and resources, AI could help more patients benefit from testing at the point of diagnosis and support more equitable care. Louise wants research to include every woman in East London – helping us understand who is at risk of breast cancer, improve care and, in the near future, find new ways to prevent it.