Deeply-personal new film urges cancer research funding

Our Journey with Lobular Cancer follows Dr Susan Michaelis, Tristan’s wife, alongside many other women diagnosed with lobular as they navigate their diagnosis and raise funding for the Lobular Moon Shot Project.

The film gets its premiere at the prestigious Raindance Film Festival, and the hope is to show it at other festivals. You can find details of screenings on the project website https://www.lobularmoonshot.org.

As Tristan says, invasive lobular breast cancer is a cancer that frequently fails to be detected on a mammogram or by ultrasound, a cancer that has no specific treatment based on its unique biology. The project argues that it remains an unmet clinical need due to a lack of investment into research into the basic biology of the disease.

And yet it is the second most common type of breast cancer. 3.75 million people will be diagnosed with this cancer in the next ten years, yet ILC currently has no specific treatment even though it behaves very differently to the more common type of breast cancer – ductal.

The Lobular Moon Shot Project was set up in 2023 to get invasive lobular breast cancer the research funding needed so the biology of the disease can be much better understood, paving the way for the vital next step: getting the specific treatment needed for ILC to improve outcomes.

As well as fundraising activities, the Lobular Moon Shot Project aims to galvanise political support to ensure vital research funding is made available by governments, specifically for ILC. There are pockets of research going on globally but what is needed is a major one-off research project to bring it all together, estimated to cost £20 million over five years.

As Tristan says, ILC has not been prioritised as it should have been in the past, especially considering 1,000 people a day worldwide (22 a day in the UK) are diagnosed with the disease. The project argues that it now needs a “Moon Shot” style approach to move our understanding of the disease forward at a much greater pace.

Which is the reason behind the film Tristan has made.

“My wife was diagnosed with the disease in 2013, and in 2021 it spread to her back and when a cancer spreads from one area to another it is known as secondary cancer. We always knew that this cancer was different but we realised that the treatment she was getting was a one size fits all treatment which is just not right for her cancer. She is struggling. She is having to take a lot of anti-pain medication at the moment and really is not in a good place.”

So far the campaign has got the support of 365 MPs. The idea of the Moon Shot echoes JFK back in the 60s. The idea is a big blast approach which will bring all the research together rather than a fragmented approach which could leave us exactly where we are in a few years’ time.

“The NHS budget is £150 billion. This would be £20 million.

“The documentary is 90 minutes and it tells audiences about the journey of the Moon Shot project, why we started it and the people that have been on it and the highs and lows of their journey with their cancer. It's about helping to educate.”