FUNDING NEEDED FOR LOBULAR BREAST CANCER RESEARCH
Thousands of women are living with an overlooked breast cancer. It is time to change that.
Every day, around 22 women in the UK and Ireland are diagnosed with invasive Lobular Breast Cancer (ILC). Worldwide, that figure is approximately 1,000 people every day. Over a lifetime, around 2% of all women will develop this disease.
Yet despite accounting for around 15% of all breast cancer diagnoses, invasive lobular breast cancer remains one of the least understood forms of the disease. There is still no treatment specifically developed for lobular breast cancer, making it one of the biggest unmet needs in breast cancer research.
The Lobular Moon Shot Project was created to change that.
Founded in 2023 by former airline pilot and researcher Dr Susan Michaelis and her husband, filmmaker Tristan Loraine, the project is calling for the UK Government to ring-fence £20 million over five years to fund discovery science into invasive lobular breast cancer.
The aim is simple but ambitious: to understand why lobular breast cancer behaves differently from other breast cancers and to develop better methods of detection, monitoring and, ultimately, disease-specific treatments.
For Susan, the mission was deeply personal.
Despite undergoing two mammograms and two ultrasounds, her cancer remained undetected until it had grown to approximately seven centimetres. By then, it had spread. Knowing the research would come too late to save her, Susan devoted the final years of her life to ensuring future generations would have a better chance than she did.
Susan died on 9 July 2025, but the campaign she inspired has continued to grow beyond anything its founders imagined.
Today, the Lobular Moon Shot Project has become the most politically supported campaign in British history, with the backing of 465 Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum. Scientists, clinicians, patients and families have united behind a common goal: giving researchers the resources they need to answer the fundamental scientific questions surrounding this disease.
The project has already achieved remarkable milestones. It has brought together leading researchers from across the UK and Europe, established the Manchester Breast Centre as its principal scientific partner and identified eight priority research questions that form the foundation of a future research programme. Campaign supporters have also raised more than £150,000 to establish the scientific infrastructure needed to begin the work.
The only thing missing is Government funding.
Despite unprecedented political support, the £20 million requested has still not been ring-fenced.
That is why, on 9 September (2026), supporters from across the country are being invited to gather opposite Downing Street for a silent vigil unlike any seen before.
The aim is to bring together 1,000 people, representing the 1,000 people diagnosed with invasive lobular breast cancer around the world every single day.
There will be no speeches.
No chanting.
No shouting.
Just 1,000 people standing together in complete silence, creating a powerful visual reminder of the lives affected by a disease that has remained overlooked for far too long.
The organisers hope the vigil will demonstrate to the Government the strength of public support for investing in research that could improve the lives of millions of women in the future.
The event is also about something broader: the importance of democracy.
When 465 elected Members of Parliament, representing communities across the United Kingdom and from different political parties, have publicly called for investment in this research, campaigners believe that such overwhelming parliamentary support deserves serious consideration. They argue that, where there is broad democratic consensus on an issue affecting public health, Government should engage constructively with Parliament’s clearly expressed view.
Whether you have been affected by breast cancer personally, know someone who has, or simply believe that overlooked diseases deserve the research they need, the organisers invite everyone to attend.
The silent vigil is not a protest against individuals. It is a respectful appeal for action—a call to invest in science, improve understanding of invasive lobular breast cancer and help ensure that future generations of women have better options than those available today.
To learn more about invasive lobular breast cancer, the Lobular Moon Shot Project, or to find out how you can take part in the 9 September Silent Vigil, visit: lobularmoonshot.org
Together, we can help ensure that this overlooked disease is overlooked no longer.
