£20,000 grant aids cancer research

The grant, part of 5m awarded by Breast Cancer Campaign, will allow Dr Martin Stacey of the University of Leeds to study EMR2, a molecule usually found in white blood cells.

A recent discovery showed that EMR2 is also present in cancer cells but not normal healthy breast cells, and could be involved in making them move to other parts of the body.

Dr Stacey said: "I am very grateful for this funding from Breast Cancer Campaign which will help uncover the exact role EMR2 plays in breast cancer spread and in disease progression."

The Breast Cancer Campaign director of research and policy, Arlene Wilkie, said: "This groundbreaking project will increase the understanding of what influences breast cancer cells' ability to spread and could one day form the basis for laboratory tests to predict how a person's cancer will develop. This will ensure each patient receives treatment that is most appropriate to them."

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, accounting for nearly one in three of all cancers in women.