BRiC Centre - Building Resilience in Breast Cancer Centre

24/10/2025

NEWS ALERT 📣

If you work with people affected by cancer, this new course run by our founder Professor Nazanin Derakshan will help you empower your patients/clients with the emotional resilience they need to rebuild their lives in survivorship. More details in this link: https://www.ncio.org.uk/education

Nazanin Derakhshan: Advancing Integrative Care Through Psycho-Oncology / cancer, Nazanin Derakhshan, OncoDaily, Oncology, psycho-oncology

22/10/2025

Psycho-Oncology is the science and practice of psychology as applied to oncology practice.
With research demonstrating the direct effects of mental health states on clinical outcomes in cancer, this course comes at the right time.
Discover and learn how you can help patients empower themselves through treatment and beyond by doing this short integrative course in Psycho-Oncology and Trauma-Competent Care. See link and below for details and how you can register.

https://www.ncio.org.uk/education

15/10/2025

"My breast cancer truth is this – breast cancer is a lonely place."

Lonely. In a room full of people - alone. In a world of pink ribbons and races, of sky-dives and coffee mornings, isolated. Yes, there are people around me, supporting me, helping me, but breast cancer is a lonely place.

The people in my world can’t understand the effects breast cancer has had on me. The emotional and physical scars are hidden from sight, but they loom large in my head. The pain and the fear are constant companions, sometimes sitting quietly by my side, sometimes shouting loudly in my ear. The loss of my womanhood hurts more than any surgery, but it’s never talked about. Should I be grateful to be still alive? Yes, I’m sure I should. But nobody warned me that the “new me” would be so far removed from the me I was BBC (before breast cancer).

Nobody said that my confidence would take such a huge hit, that I would cry when I look in the mirror, that I would mourn the body I’ve lost, that my hair would never be the same as it was BBC, or that my eye-lashes would never be as long or as thick, that even after three surgeries my b***s would still be uneven, misshapen and numb. The list is so long that it’s easier to bury the effects and just keep pretending that everything is OK. The ongoing effects of hormone therapy, the hot flushes, the mood swings, the weight gain, the brittle nails, the aching bones, the muscle cramps, the insomnia. Small things, but so many of them that they seem enormous.

And alongside all of this - that fear: I’m NED (no evidence of disease) now, but will that last?

Everyone around me thinks it’s over, but it’s not. It will never be over. There will always be that niggling fear. A fear I carry alone, along with the aches and the pains.

I am alive, I count my blessings every day despite all of this. I have survived almost 7 years since I heard those fateful words and I hope to have many more. I have had some wonderful times and met some wonderful people because of my cancer. I have made friendships that are more meaningful than any I made BBC. I have laughed with friends at our bald heads and shared giggles as we all tried to avoid that one nurse who couldn’t get a cannula in. I have shared highs and lows with family and friends. I have found peace in the countryside. I've learned to say no to people who make demands on my time and to say yes to things I really want to do. But my breast cancer truth is this – breast cancer is a lonely place.

Breast Cancer is a Lonely Place ~ Jan

15/10/2025

"Join a local support group!"

I had never realised until I had breast cancer, just how helpful support groups are!

I'm involved in a local support group called Pink Sisters. We are an amazing group of ladies that have probably become closer than biological sisters!

I'd advise anyone who is struggling, to join a local group!

Join a support group ~ Rachael

13/10/2025

13/10/2025

NOT FLUFFY. NOT PINK. NOT THE BEST BUT THE MOST PREVALENT.

18/07/2025

The Princess of Wales made quite a stir recently, when she recognised the impact on cancer patients’ mental and physical health, post-active treatment.

We at BRiC not only recognise it too, but champion the need for further support during this period of recovery, relating specifically to breast cancer. Founder of BRiC, Professor Nazanin Derakshan, has been banging this drum for over 10 years, after struggling post-active treatment following her own breast cancer diagnosis.

Despite our best efforts, sadly, in the last 10 years, not much has changed. Women come to us, seeking support they didn’t know they would need until they found themselves alone and floundering, struggling to make sense of what they had been through and unable to move forward.

Our ethos at BRiC is to instil resilience and validate emotions rather than bury them. We provide simple, guided, tasks to help process trauma and recognise the importance of pausing to reflect. Psychological recovery is something that can’t be rushed, and although we must tread this path individually, there is much comfort and clarity that comes from the shared experience within our private group.

A breast cancer diagnosis is traumatic and disfiguring - we can only begin to heal once active treatment is over. It can take months, or even years of recuperation and adjustment. For ladies who receive a secondary diagnosis, there can be no return to normal. There is no end to treatment and very little support. Although secondary breast cancer is a terminal diagnosis, in many cases, as new treatments are developed, this does not mean imminent end of life. A good standard of living may be achieved, with many years ahead. These ladies deserve so much more support.

BRiC is also involved in groundbreaking research, headed by our Nazanin (who is a Professor of Experimental Psychopathology) in collaboration with Birkbeck University of London and Reading University, along with her role at the NCIO. Among other findings, we have published scientific evidence that “chemo brain” is real. This is a much needed breakthrough for those struggling cognitively after treatment.

We will continue to strive for better!

17/07/2025

The widened availability of ribociclib (brand name Kisqali) for early diagnosed ER+ HER2- breast cancer patients is good news. The more treatment lines there are, the more chance we have of adherence to our medication regime (low adherence is often caused by individual side effects and tolerance). This means we are less likely to have a recurrence… and a greater chance of living well, post diagnosis 🙌

HomeNewsNews articlesThousands more breast cancer patients to benefit from new NHS treatment NICE approves ribociclib combination therapy to help prevent cancer returning in early-stage disease.News17 July 2025Around 5,700 people with early breast cancer are set to benefit from expanded access to a....

08/06/2025

Would you close your eyes for the blind?

Would you spend the day with your eyes closed to raise money for the blind? No? Neither would we! Because it’s inappropriate. So how is “brave the shave” allowed to continue in this form..?”

“I hate it. I hate the pity. I hate the idea of it and I don’t know how to get my head round it”

Not all of our discussions are pre-orchestrated. Sometimes a member raises a subject that they need support with and a natural interaction takes off. Sometimes these views need to be heard by the rest of the world.

This one is quite particular but also comes up fairly frequently:

Brave the Shave.

Of the many comments, there were various views; On the plus side, it raises money, which can only be a good thing, right? Some people don’t mind it and for some, not having had chemo, hair loss is not something that has been experienced, so they may not have had the cause to give it much thought. But overwhelmingly, the majority of comments regarding this particular campaign could not have been clearer. Please make it stop!

“When I first found out I was having chemo, my biggest fear was losing my hair. I don’t want anyone to do that deliberately to themselves, it’s such a horrible thing”

“I still freak out seeing people having their heads shaved 14 years after treatment “

For people going through chemo, along with the possibility of other debilitating side effects, the loss of their hair is a very intimate and personal experience. Losing hair in this way can actually be very uncomfortable and you don’t just lose the hair on your head (as if that wasn’t traumatic enough!). Some hair follicles may die permanently – there is no guarantee that your hair will grow back, and if it does it may be a different colour, texture and thickness. That is a lot to cope with.

“I always thought of it as a show of empathy and a fundraising/awareness raising activity but I can now see how, particularly for people who have lost their hair, this isn't a positive thing”

So, here’s where we as a group begin to understand why “Brave the Shave” upsets so many chemo patients. It may not reflect the psychological impact of their suffering; it can be projected as a fun thing to do to raise some cash, when in actual fact it comes very close to mocking their situation. We wouldn’t, say, “Diet for Anorexia”. Of course not, because that would be wildly inappropriate! So why is it deemed ok to continue with something so misguided?

“I hate that they ignore cancer patients in order to raise cash”

Many also feel irritated with the word “brave” when applied to cancer. We are not brave, we simply don’t have a choice - it’s treatment or die, and in some cases, it’s treatment and die anyway. It’s difficult to understand how a charity can alienate a fair proportion of the people it’s trying to support. Maybe “brave the shave” is outdated and it’s time to come up with something new?

Until that happens, before you consider “Braving the Shave” please speak to your nearest chemo patient and ask them what it’s really like and how they honestly feel about it. They might be ok with it, but they could also be very upset and vulnerable, in which case, would you still go ahead with it?

Summary by Vickie Filby, Deputy Head of BRiC