Overview
- The My Breast Friend app is free on major app stores, sending monthly reminders and offering private logs of any changes.
- The project aims to normalise regular self-exams to catch cancers sooner, citing UK data that one in seven women will be diagnosed and that many do not check routinely.
- Dowden, diagnosed with breast cancer at 32 in May 2023 and given the all-clear in February 2024, is using her profile to drive early detection.
- She stresses that early detection can save lives and urges people to learn their normal and seek medical advice if something feels different.
- Co-creator Gemma Ainger developed the concept after a stage 3 diagnosis at 42 following a chance discovery of a lump in the shower.