Cancer campaigner dies after 14 years of illness

A woman who campaigned relentlessly for research into lobular breast cancer has died after living with the illness for 14 years.

Dr Susan Michaelis launched the Lobular Moon Shot Project in 2023 to fight for £20m in funding for research into the biology of invasive lobular breast cancer.

Dr Michaelis, from Horsham in West Sussex, had been due to meet Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Monday to press him on the funds.

She died in hospital on 9 July, while wearing a Lobular Moon Shot Project t-shirt, with her husband, Tristan, and close friends.

Dr Michaelis had completed a degree in marketing, though her dream was to become a pilot.

She saved enough money to become a private pilot, then pilot teacher before making it as an airline pilot, flying to remote communities in the challenging terrain of the Northern Territory of Australia.

But in 1997, Dr Michaelis collapsed mid-flight.

She lost her medical certificate and never flew as an airline pilot again, but contributed to the Australian Senate carrying out an investigation and went on to become an air accident investigator.

Despite her injuries sustained as an airline pilot, Dr Michaelis completed Half Ironman triathlons and became the first Australian to receive a British Citizen Award for her work in aviation safety.

After being diagnosed with lobular breast cancer, she set about campaigning for research into the illness, which she said was "just not being done".

Lobular cancer makes up 15% of all breast cancer cases, but campaigners say it is under-studied and rarely recognised due to rarely forming a lump in the same way as other breast cancers.

It differs from more common forms of breast cancer in that it begins in the milk-producing lobule glands, as opposed to 70-80% of breast cancers.

Just last month, Dr Michaelis was one of 22 women to take part in a vigil outside Downing Street, representing the 22 women who are diagnosed with the disease every day.

Last year, a rose named the Dr Susan Michaelis Rose was launched by Harkness Roses at the Chelsea Flower Show.

The meeting with Mr Streeting on Monday will still go ahead, with Dr Michaelis's husband and the Lobular Moon Shot Project continuing her work.

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