Families of children who have died from brain tumours have welcomed a half a million pound funding boost during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to help find a cure for the disease.
The Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London, focuses on finding new treatments for high-grade brain tumours in children. The ICR has received a share of £12 million from the Innovate UK Cancer Therapeutics programme, which focuses on developing life-changing cancer treatments.
Ethan Treharne, from Berkshire, died from a glioblastoma (GBM) in November 2021 at the age of 17. One in three children who die of cancer are killed by a brain tumour, and this devastating disease kills more children than leukaemia.
His mother, Nikki, said: “Hearing that the team at ICR is benefitting from this significant sum to help them in their vital work to bring about better, hopefully kinder, treatments is such great news. Even though it’s too late for Ethan.”
Ethan (left) with his siblings.
Professor Chris Jones, who leads the research team, explained that the grant “will support identifying tiny proteins, known as peptides, that can enter cells to prevent specific cancer-causing proteins from binding to DNA within a child’s brain tumour.”
Following news of the extra funding, Director of Research, Policy and Innovation at Brain Tumour Research, Dr Karen Noble, said: “Professor Jones’ team’s work acts as a crucial bridge connecting worldwide research and analysing findings to help inform and enable the setting up of much-needed clinical trials so this cash injection is a huge boost."
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Published Friday 20th September 2024.