Glasgow breast cancer survivor Yvette Hutcheson has joined forces with a city scientist to Stand Up To Cancer.

Cancer scientist Dr Karen Blyth, of the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow, took Yvette Hutcheson on a special tour of her lab.

And Yvette, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 28, saw first-hand how scientists in Scotland are working to beat cancer like hers.

The Evening Times first told Yvette's story in May, as the young woman described how cancer had lost her a year of her life.

Now she is supporting Cancer Research UK's Stand Up To Cancer campaign and is highlighting the face one in two people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.

Yvette, who was diagnosed in July 2015, said: “It was a major shock when I was told I had cancer as I was still so young with no family history of the disease.

"I remember looking at my dad who was with me and we were both just stunned."

Yvette had HER2 positive breast cancer. But - following six lots of chemotherapy, surgery to remove the breast lump and 20 sessions of radiotherapy - Yvette completed her treatment this spring.

Now she has an injection of the breast cancer drug, Herceptin once every three weeks. She will receive 18 in total and her final injection is scheduled for November 25.

Cancer Research UK scientists played a crucial part in the early development of Herceptin by helping to establish the link between some breast cancers and ‘growth factor receptor’ proteins on the surface of cells.

Yvette said: “I’m standing up to cancer because my story shows the real power of research and why it’s so important to keep raising money to fund the vital work scientists like Karen are doing every day to beat cancer.

“I know what it’s like to go through cancer. I had the full bhuna of treatment – I had chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery and I’m still getting hormone therapy and immunotherapy.

"But hopefully, through money raised by Stand Up To Cancer, people won’t need to do the full shebang in the future and treatment will be easier for them.

“That’s why I want to encourage as many people as possible to join with Karen and me and stand up to this devastating disease.”

Stand Up To Cancer is a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 and finishes on Friday, October 21.

Money raised funds translational research, which takes developments in the lab and transforms them into brand new tests and treatments for cancer patients.

Karen and her team at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute are studying a family of genes called RUNX genes to try and understand the role they play in breast cancer – in particular triple negative breast cancer which is more difficult to treat than other breast cancers.

They hope that this information could help develop new and better treatments for the disease.

She said: “In 40 years we’ve gone from a situation where women diagnosed with breast cancer had only a 50-50 chance of survival, to today, where almost 90 per cent of women survive breast cancer to five years after their diagnosis. That’s amazing, but we need to keep fighting on in the lab to make even more progress.

“It was an honour to meet Yvette and hear about her brave battle against cancer."

Victoria Steven, Cancer Research UK’s spokeswoman for Scotland, said: “We’d like to thank Yvette and Karen for standing up to cancer with us.

“Yvette’s experience brings home the fact that one in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives. Cancer doesn’t discriminate. Whether it’s you or someone you know, it leaves its mark on us all."

People across the city can also show their support for the campaign in style as a range of clothing and accessories for men, women and children is available online at standuptocancer.org.uk

For more information and to get involved visit standuptocancer.org.uk