Case study: 'This is the way to find if there are family links'

Published on Sunday 19 September 2010 15:44

Linda Lucas was inspired to join the study after suffering breast cancer ten years ago.

The 55-year-old supply teacher had a mastectomy and also had her ovaries removed.

She said: "That was traumatic at that age, because you are thrown into the menopause.

"That was the most difficult bit. Then I had radiotherapy and Tamoxifen."

Four years ago she also had breast reconstruction. She said it was still hard to believe her long journey with cancer was at an end: "You never feel completely that you have beaten it. You are hyper-sensitive to any pain or discomfort, because it can spread to the bones or brain."

Ms Lucas, who lives near St Andrews, wanted to help women like her daughter, who was 16 when her mother was diagnosed.

"Things like the Generations study are the only way we are going to find out if there are links in families, or if it is to do with lifestyle.

"They are looking at everything, even whether people who work on nightshifts are at greater risk," she said.

Ms Lucas has also recruited her mother and nieces to the study.