Awareness & education
Confront the reality of MBC that the celebratory pink of most breast cancer marketing leaves out, and make policy makers, charities and government bodies treat it as a priority.
Read our aims
Metastatic breast cancer · United Kingdom
Another 31 women will die today.
And tomorrow.
And the next.
METUPUK is the only patient advocacy group in the UK campaigning solely on metastatic (secondary) breast cancer. We are the patients: volunteer-led, unpaid, and #BusyLivingWithMets.
31
women in the UK die every single day from metastatic breast cancer. It is the biggest cancer killer of women under 50.
Median life expectancy after diagnosis is just 2-3 years. We believe that is an unacceptable outcome, and that MBC can become a chronic disease.
Three fronts, one goal
We are a patient advocacy group aiming to turn metastatic breast cancer into a chronic illness, and to help MBC patients access the best medicines to prolong and improve their quality of life. We work towards a day when MBC can be cured.
Research & access to drugs
Push for a fair share of research funding, faster approvals, and access to the treatments that extend and improve life for people living with secondary breast cancer.
Read our aims
Patient treatment & care
Fight for every MBC patient to have a clinical nurse specialist, proper support, and care that meets national standards wherever they live.
Read our aims
What we are pushing on right now
Campaigns, resources and research that METUPUK members are driving, from the red-flag symptoms infographic to the fight for faster drug approvals.
Red flag #SBCinfographic
Our Founders achievement is the red flag infographics. Created by abcdiagnosis highlighting where secondary disease will return. No one wanted to promote this information with patients. Professionals…
Find out more
METUPUKs #TrodelvyNow Campaign
We call on the government to intervene to speed up the MHRA process for the approval of Trodelvy to show it is actually committed to improving access to lifesaving drugs in the post-Brexit regulatory…
Find out more
Treatment Lines
Let’s talk treatment lines… “Treatment lines?” you might ask if you aren’t in the MBC world, “What are they?” Well, here’s the thing, not all metastatic breast cancers are created equal – and not all…
Find out more
METUPUK Mental Health & Social Media Survey
Welcome to the MetUpUK Mental Health & Social Media Survey MetUpUK wanted to investigate the ways that people with Metastatic Breast Cancer are using social media, how the different social platforms…
Find out more
Darker Side of Pink
THE DARKER SIDE OF PINK WAS THE FOCUS OF OUR CAMPAIGN DURING CANCER AWARENESS MONTH 2021. WE ASK PEOPLE TO LOOK BEYOND THE PINK AND FLUFFY SIDE OF CANCER AND HEAR THE THOUGHTS OF 31 WOMEN LIVING WITH…
Find out more
About us
METUPUK is the ONLY metastatic breast cancer patient advocacy group in the UK. We are here to push and promote issues with secondary/metastatic breast cancer. Our objectives and strategy focus on the…
Find out more
Jo Taylor She recorded her own film for the exhibition. Watch Jo's film
The campaign
The Darker Side of Pink
Look beyond the pink and fluffy side of cancer. This is the side most campaigns leave out.
31
Transparent figures tour the UK, one for every woman who dies each day from metastatic breast cancer. Each carries a QR code that plays a film recorded by the woman herself.
Give us a chance to live and don’t write us off
We can be #BusyLivingWithMets, even those of us on the darker side of pink.
31 women, 31 films
Every figure in the exhibition is a real person who recorded her own story. Watch them, or read the written accounts.
Latest news
Campaign updates, policy wins and the lived experience of people with secondary breast cancer, written by our community.
Speaking Up to Be Heard: My Journey With Metastatic Breast Cancer and the Power of Self-Advocacy
When people talk about fighting cancer, they often speak in terms of courage, strength, and resilience. But one word I wish we talked about more—especially in the beginning—is self-advocacy. Because…
Read more
How do we get better outcomes and survival for Metastatic Breast Cancer?
I watched with interest the phenomenal feat by Lucy Gossage founder of 5K Your Way (Move Against Cancer podcast) and winner of the 2025 Spine Race which is an ultra endurance run from Edale,…
Read more
Trustees’ Week by Madeleine Meynell
The week of 4-8 November 2024 is set aside to celebrate the work of nearly 1 million trustees volunteering for charities across the UK. Trustees are individuals responsible for the governance of a…
Read more
Help us keep pushing
We are entirely volunteer-run and self-funded. No salaries, no remuneration. Every donation, every letter to an MP, every share goes directly into changing outcomes for people living with MBC.