Dear Friends

Some of you will know that in 2008 I rode a bike to Paris from Newbury along with 31 other friends to raise money for my late friend Sarah’s charity, and many of you financially supported me in the endeavour. And now I am doing it again with my wife, two sons and 65 others, but this time in Ireland and we will be riding 250 miles in 3 days. I would be most grateful if you would take the time just to read the note below from the Chief Executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer Professor Paul Ellis, one of the world’s leading oncologists who treated Sarah Greene during her illness:

On behalf of everyone at the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Research unit at Guy’s Hospital/Kings College we thank you for the energy and commitment you have shown in raising money in Sarah Greene’s name. The Bike ride through Ireland will be exhausting but also exhilarating and loads of fun. I can assure you that every pound raised goes directly to our Unit.

I thought it would help to give you an insight into just how exciting and dynamic this area of research is at the moment. The type of breast cancer Sarah had is called Triple Negative because it doesn't have any of the 3 common breast cancer "targets" on the outside of the cell. This makes it a more aggressive type of breast cancer than some others and harder to treat because we haven't had these specific "targeted" therapies to use against it. Our unit is one of a small number of leading international units to be specifically searching for these targets. We have been successful in undertaking some of the basic research work that has led to the development of a brand new type of drug therapy called the PARP inhibitors. Head of Research at the Unit Dr Andy Tutt and I have been asked to lead a large European trial that will test these drugs in early breast cancer. We are extremely hopeful based on some very promising early results that these drugs will quickly become established as a new standard of care and lead to improved cure rates for women with Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Sadly I did not have this type of treatment available when I was treating Sarah. With your efforts our unit, by helping to develop these drugs, will be able to help millions of women in the near future who like Sarah have Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

I am normally cautious about making grand statements but in this case it is not an exaggeration to say that the treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer is at the forefront of a revolution and our Unit (with all you sponsors with us) is right in the middle of it.

Somewhat sheepishly in the light of the current economic downturn, I am asking whether you would be so kind and sponsor me for this forthcoming ride, and the Breakthrough letter attached shows how this can be done. I am 51 years young, don’t really like extreme exercise (!), but passionately believe that the pain I am currently and will be going through is so worth while by DIRECTLY helping women around the world to avoid the risk of suffering from breast cancer. One gets so many requests from charities I know, but I suspect almost every one of us has known a member of their family or a friend who has been touched by this terrible disease. I can also assure you that unlike most charities ALL THE MONEY RAISED GOES DIRECTLY to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer unit at Guy’s Hospital, Kings College London. You can therefore visibly see how your money is doing real and immediate good.

If you would like to contribute through the website, my direct page is http://breakthrough.tributefunds.com
/stephenchristie-miller

Thank you very much.

Best wishes

Stephen