The charities want to increase media coverage about the condition, which occurs when breast cancer cells have broken away from the initial tumour and spread to another part of the body where a new tumour may be formed.
It is commonly mistaken for a recurrence of the original breast cancer following remission.
The charities will target the national and regional press and women’s lifestyle media to recruit secondary breast-cancer sufferers to take part in the UK’s first survey on their experiences.
The results will be used to target clinicians, health service leaders and policy makers to improve understanding.
