Today we are looking forward to welcoming nine families to our Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London. Sadly, they’ve all been devastated by glioblastoma (GBM) – the most common type of primary high-grade brain tumour in adults with a shockingly poor survival prognosis – normally between 12 and 18 months.
Families like the Hopkissons who lost husband and father-of-three Peter just nine months after his diagnosis and the Lilleys who lost husband and father-of-two John, who should have been welcoming his first grandchild Bonnie to the world just a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, brain tumour patient, Hannah King-Page is coming with her mum to learn from researchers about the progress into finding more effective treatments and ultimately a cure for GBM. Hannah (pictured below with her husband Andrew) was diagnosed with a GBM in November 2020, aged 39, and had to retire from her dream job as a physiotherapist.
We are grateful that Hannah and the Lilleys, as well as the Barltrop family who also lost a husband and dad, have set up the Fundraising Groups Hannah’s Kingdom, John’s Crew and Fluffy Cloud and Co and are dedicated to funding vital research to help bring hope to families in the future.
At Queen Mary, scientists are focused on increasing our understanding of GBM tumours in adults, and are also looking at finding new, kinder treatments for medulloblastoma and diffuse midline glioma (DMG), also known as DIPG.
The families will have a presentation from Centre Director Professor Silvia Marino before they tour the labs and hear further from the scientists and then place tiles on the Wall of Hope representing the days of research they are sponsoring.
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