October is Breast Cancer awareness month and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust’s (NUH) first and only genomics practitioner for breast cancer wants to help raise awareness by sharing her story of how she was inspired to care and start her career at NUH after losing her mum to breast cancer at a young age.
Taken from a piece produced by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Rachel Spence started her career as a Healthcare Assistant at NUH 16 years ago. She said: “I lost my mum in 2009 to breast cancer when she was 47, and I was 22. I immediately knew I wanted to give back to the NHS so after university, where I studied BSc Biological Sciences, I applied to NUH. Not the planned trajectory after gaining my degree, but I knew it was right.”
Describing her late mum, Janet Hibbert, Rachel said: “She was a fantastic woman, loved by many. My mum decided to go into healthcare herself after a long career in hairdressing. She felt a calling and so did I. I just felt I needed to give back after her passing. I applied to be a healthcare assistant (HCA) here at NUH and I’ve been here ever since.”
Her mum’s passing was still very raw when Rachel joined NUH so she didn’t feel she would be able to handle a role within breast cancer in the beginning. In fact, it took almost 11 years working across many departments, from Endoscopy to Adults Intensive Care Unit (AICU), to Emergency Department (ED), through to general surgery research before she spotted a role at the Nottingham Breast Institute.
The Nottingham Breast Institute is a leading centre for breast cancer research and treatment that developed the internationally recognised Nottingham Prognostic Index and grading system. It focuses on a wide range of research, from classifying breast cancers and identifying prognostic markers to understanding the role of cancer stem cells and developing new gene tests to tailor treatment. Nottingham Hospitals Charity has provided funding for specialist diagnostic equipment, comforting artwork and a homely waiting room for patient waiting for breast screenings.
It was fate really. I was never one for looking at the jobs available, but this job was there, and it was two days before it closed so I put a lot of effort into the application, got an interview and got the job. It feels like it was meant to be and hopefully my Mum is proud.
Rachel Spence, on her journey to becoming NUH's first and only genomic practitioner for breast cancer
Rachel Spence has had many moments to prove why she was inspired to care, including now following her younger sister’s diagnosis of breast cancer. Rachel said: “I feel like I was meant for this job, and now, sadly, my 36-year-old sister, Stephanie, has just been diagnosed with breast cancer and I feel even more that this role was meant to be.”
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with about 56,000 new cases in women and 400 in men diagnosed each year. Roughly 1 in 7 UK women will develop it in their lifetime, and it is most common in women over 50.
Rachel Spence wants to share the importance of being breast aware and how checking your breasts for any unusual changes can help discover breast cancer early.
She said: “Surgery and treatment has come a long way in the 16 years since losing my mum and I feel more positive for my sister.
“These women today stand a much better chance than my mum did. She didn’t have many options, but I feel my sister has and I am in a great position to support her through this journey.”
Information for the public:
- For more information about checking your breasts and the support available for breast cancer then visit NUH Breast Services (opens in a new tab).
- Find out more about genetic testing for cancer risk on the Cancer Research UK website (opens in a new tab) and genetic testing for altered breast cancer genes on the Breast Cancer Now website. (opens in a new tab)
Information for healthcare staff:
- Find out more about genomic testing and breast cancer on the Genomics Education Programme GeNotes pages. (opens in a new tab)
Consultant Clinical Geneticist Professor Julian Barwell of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust on the podcast Breast Cancer Uncovered, discussing the role of genetics in breast cancer, high-risk genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, the importance of knowing family history, and the misconceptions surrounding genetic inheritance.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNw1izTQ8kg