Finding a cure for childhood brain tumours
Every year, around 420 children are diagnosed with a brain tumour. Children like Joey Sharp, who was diagnosed with brain cancer at just 11 days old.
This devastating disease kills more children than leukaemia, yet treatments are limited and research remains critically underfunded.
Your donations help fund life-changing research to find new, kinder treatments and support our campaigning to change the story for families affected.
Did you know 62% of children who survive a brain tumour live with life-long disabilities?
Ben Price was just two years old when he had surgery to remove a satsuma-sized, high-grade medulloblastoma. It left him with Posterior Fossa Syndrome and temporarily unable to move, swallow or even recognise his parents. Ben also had intensive chemotherapy.
Ben is now 12 and in remission, but he continues to live with the long-term effects of the treatment, which include fatigue, balance issues, ataxia and hearing loss.
Did you know only one new treatment for childhood brain tumours has been approved since 2000?
There is only one approved targeted combination therapy specifically approved for children with brain tumours (dabrafenib and trametinib) and this treatment is only available to patients with certain types of gliomas. Many children still rely on surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy – the same treatment approaches as are used for adult patients. More research and greater access to clinical trials are urgently needed to develop targeted therapies that are more effective and less harmful.
We are funding research to speed up the development of new treatments for the most aggressive childhood brain tumours. Our Centre of Excellence at the Institute of Cancer Research is identifying and testing promising drug combinations and therapeutic approaches for paediatric high-grade gliomas. The expert team is generating the high-quality evidence needed to take these treatments into clinical trials, with the aim of ensuring potential new treatments reach children faster.
Did you know that around a quarter of children diagnosed with a brain tumour will die within five years of their diagnosis?
Survival rates have only improved by 5% since 1997. Without more investment in research to understand what causes paediatric brain tumours and to find new ways to treat the disease, this will not change.
Brain Tumour Research has committed more than £4.5 million to researching childhood brain tumours over the last decade. This funding is being invested in the infrastructure and talent needed to drive innovation, discovery and impact for paediatric patients.
But charities cannot do it alone. We are calling for governments and larger charities to increase the national investment in research. We urge the Government to deliver on promises set out in the National Cancer Plan to prioritise children and young people’s cancer by supporting research and innovation and breaking down barriers to clinical trials.
Joey's story
Joey Sharp was just 11 days old when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He had emergency surgery, followed by two further operations and around nine rounds of chemotherapy to treat the tumour – a glioblastoma. Today, despite living with cerebral palsy and the lasting effects of his treatments, Joey is a happy, determined five-year-old and has just started school.
“Watching Joey walk through those school gates was incredibly emotional, not just for our family but for the many doctors, nurses and therapists who have supported him since he was only 11 days old.
"We know not every family gets the outcome we've been blessed with, and we never take a single day with Joey for granted. Every milestone he reaches is a reminder of just how far he has come, and why continuing to support Brain Tumour Research is so important.” - Sam Sharp, Joey's Mum