Olubukola Ayodele, Breast Cancer Lead at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, shared on LinkedIn:
“This has been a week of mixed emotions.
It marked the 15th anniversary of my mother’s passing from metastatic breast cancer. I had my graduation ceremony at the University of Hull, where I was formally awarded my MSc in Healthcare Leadership with Distinction.
It was a proud moment. One I wish my mother had been there to witness. Some of life’s proudest moments are made even more meaningful by those we wish could have shared them with us.
As I reflected on both milestones, I realised how much has changed, not just in my own journey, but in the field that has come to define my career.
I run a busy breast oncology practice, and over the past week I’ve cared for many women living with metastatic breast cancer. Fifteen years ago, many of their stories might have looked very different.
There was a time when metastatic breast cancer was almost universally seen as a death sentence. Treatment options were limited, survival was shorter, and our conversations centred more on what we couldn’t do than on what we could.
Today, while metastatic breast cancer remains incurable for most patients, the story has changed.
We understand the biology of breast cancer better than ever before. We personalise treatment according to tumour subtype and molecular characteristics. CDK4/6 inhibitors, HER2-targeted therapies, antibody-drug conjugates, immunotherapy and better supportive care have transformed outcomes for many patients.
The greatest advances aren’t found in journal publications or Kaplan-Meier curves; they’re found in the so-called “ordinary” moments.
- Individuals planning a holiday.
- Watching their children graduate.
- Walking their children down the aisle.
- Returning to work.
- Meeting grandchildren.
- Getting married.
- Celebrating birthdays they never expected to see.
These outcomes are reminders of why research matters.
My mother never had the opportunity to benefit from many of the treatments we now routinely offer, and that may be difficult to reconcile with, but it continues to fuel my purpose.
- Every patient educated.
- Every clinical trial completed.
- Every new treatment approved.
- Every service improved.
- Every barrier to equitable care reduced.
- Every effort to tackle inequalities in cancer care. It all matters, because behind every statistic is someone’s mother, father, partner, sibling or friend.
We still have a long way to go. Too many inequalities remain, and too many patients still don’t benefit equally from the remarkable advances we’ve made.
But every so often, it’s worth stopping to recognise that we have changed the story of metastatic breast cancer.
And that gives me hope for what comes next.”
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