Jayshree Jhala

Jayshree JhalaJayshree, 74, was diagnosed with breast cancer following a mammogram when she was 69.

The tumour was grade 2 and just below the nipple. Jayshree chose to have a mastectomy and then chemotherapy.

Jayshree was devastated to lose her long hair (which has now grown back) but is now doing well and is very keen to promote cancer awareness in the Asian community. She has appeared on the Asian TV programme Simply Health, which was sponsored by Cancer Research UK, to talk about her story. As a result Jayshree has had calls from as far away as Canada from women who were inspired to go for screening after seeing the programme.

Jayshree is now on a five year course of tamoxifen.

Tamoxifen is probably the most important drug in the history of the management of breast cancer. Cancer Research UK funded many large trials in the 1980s and 1990s looking at the benefits of this drug. Our research contributed significantly to the evidence for using Tamoxifen to treat breast cancer, and has shaped the way the drug is still used today.

For many years Cancer Research UK has supported the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group, which has contributed to widespread changed in clinical practice. Their findings have shaped the use of hormone and chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer