I’m Kate Ford Michaels, a writer and activist. In January 2023, aged 49, I was diagnosed with invasive lobular breast cancer, a disease, which until then, I’d never heard of. In fact, I had no idea there were different types of breast cancer.
Despite being recognised as a distinct subtype of the disease in the 1970s – the decade in which I was born – research into the basic biology of lobular has been neglected. This means there is no specific treatment for the 22 women in the UK (1,000 globally) who are diagnosed every day.
From patient to health campaigner
Desperate to learn more about this type of breast cancer, whilst going through gruelling treatment, in the summer of 2023 I stumbled upon the Lobular Moon Shot Project. Launched just a few weeks earlier, by the late Dr Susan Michaelis, the campaign’s purpose is to lobby the UK Government for £20m funding for a five-year lobular breast cancer research project, which will be led by scientific partner, the Manchester Breast Centre.
The Lobular Moon Shot Project immediately garnered strong political cross-party support. In December 2023, Susan and fellow campaigner Katie Swinburne met with the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Victoria Atkins, who publicly pledged that the government would fund the Lobular Moon Shot Project and include lobular breast cancer in England’s 2024 Women’s Health Strategy.
By May 2024, the campaign had 247 bipartisan MP supporters. The election that summer turned everything on its head, and parliamentary support was quickly rebuilt. Multiple MPs spoke up for campaigners in parliament – including my own MP Monica Harding – and a December Westminster Hall Debate continued momentum.
The beginning of 2025 continued at the same pace but devastatingly Susan, who had stage-4 disease, was getting sicker. On 6th May 2025, we hosted the second Lobular Moon Shot Project MP drop-in day in Westminster. And two weeks later, Fact Not Fiction Films, a production company owned by Susan’s husband Tristan Loraine, released the trailer for ‘Our Journey with Lobular Breast Cancer’.
The film, which documents the first two years of the campaign. premiered at the Raindance Film Festival on 24th June 2025. The screening followed a 22-minute Silent Vigil opposite Downing Street where Susan, 20 fellow campaigners and I represented the 22 women diagnosed in the UK every day.
Meeting Wes Streeting
In July 2025, after two intensive campaign years, we finally received an invitation to meet with Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting. At the time, the Lobular Moon Shot Project had unprecedented cross-party support from more than 410 MPs and five cross-party principal MPs, making it the highest-supported campaign in the history of the nation.
Devastatingly, on 9th July 2025, Susan passed away from the disease – wearing her Lobular Moon Shot Project t-shirt – just five days before the meeting and three weeks after the Silent Vigil and film premiere.
On Monday 14th July, in the midst of grief, Susan’s husband Tristan, her brother John Michaelis, myself, and co-campaigners Katie Swinburne, Kirstin Spencer, Alison Livingstone and Sarah Ramsay Smith attended the meeting with Wes Streeting and read prepared speeches to firmly outline the difficulties lobular breast cancer patients face and why this essential research funding is needed immediately. In my speech I highlighted the Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto promise: “Never again will women’s health be neglected.” And their campaign slogan focused on building an ‘NHS that’s fit for the future’.
The following day Wes Streeting issued a statement saying:
“…Everyone is determined to honour Susan’s legacy. I’ve asked our Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Lucy Chappell to bring campaigners and researchers together to plot a path forward to understand the biology behind this cancer, so that we can make a difference to the women affected.”
*Update June 2026: Wes Streeting stood down as Health Secretary in May 2026. Sadly, he did not make any meaningful change for lobular breast cancer patients. The Lobular Moon Shot Project is now supported by 465 MPs. The campaign continues.
Breaking the cycle
Because of the vast research gap, the medical community severely lacks knowledge about lobular breast cancer, leaving patients feeling neglected, unseen and misunderstood. But lobular is just one disease among many; and as a consequence women continue to suffer from these failings – failings built on a foundation of historical inequity, the imprint of which we still feel today.
The Healthcare Rebellion (2028) provides a framework for understanding systemic medical discrimination and a blueprint for meaningful policy change in a system that has historically silenced women.
Follow the link to:
The Healthcare Rebellion (2028) – exploring the book’s key themes and timeline.