Finding a cure for childhood brain tumours

One in three children who die of cancer is killed by a brain tumour. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and we are working with families affected by this disease to highlight how together we can get closer to a cure.

We are leading the way to increase national investment in research to find new treatments for childhood brain tumours to improve outcomes and, ultimately, find a cure. Will you help us this September for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month?

Your donation today will help fund the fight, supporting research to help us find kinder treatments and cures for children with brain tumours. Keep reading to find out more about the work your money will support.

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The stark facts: 

On average, 420 children in the UK are diagnosed with a brain tumour every year

One in three children who die of cancer is killed by a brain tumour

Brain tumours kill more children than leukaemia

It is unknown what causes brain tumours in children

Paediatric brain tumour treatment depends on the type of tumour, size and location in the brain and will be agreed by a multidisciplinary team comprised of various paediatric specialists, but may include surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy

Of children who survive a brain tumour, 62% live with life-long disabilities

Diffuse midline glioma (DMG) – which includes diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) – is the deadliest form of childhood cancer, with an average survival of just eight to 12 months, and affects around 40 children every year

Rosie’s story

“Rosie is our little firecracker; a sassy, sparkle-loving princess with bright pink hair who adores singing, dancing and dressing up. She’s full of personality, always knows what she wants and brings so much joy to our family. Her big brother, Charlie, is her biggest supporter, and together, they turn every day into an adventure.”

Rosie was diagnosed with a brain tumour in December 2024. The vibrant five-year-old had been experiencing headaches and eye issues before she was eventually diagnosed with a paediatric bithalamic glioma with a rare genetic abnormality – a tumour so rare, the pathology department at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool had only ever seen three other cases before. This aggressive and inoperable tumour carries a prognosis of nine to 12 months. Rosie has undergone radiotherapy and is now on her fourth round of chemotherapy.

We’re leading the fight to find a cure for children like Rosie – but we need your help 

Our vision is to find a cure for all types of brain tumours. Researchers across our Brain Tumour Research Centres of Excellence are working tirelessly to find new, kinder treatments and, ultimately, cures.

  • The Institute of Cancer Research

    Professor Chris Jones and his team are identifying, testing and validating new therapeutic targets for paediatric-type diffuse high-grade glioma (PDHGG) – a collection of brain tumours in children and in young adults which have extremely poor clinical outcomes – as well as developing new drug delivery methods. The truly translational Centre is generating the laboratory data needed to support the launch of new clinical trials.

  • Queen Mary University of London 

    The team at Queen Mary is discovering gentler, more specific and effective therapies for childhood brain tumours, including medulloblastoma, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), and ependymoma. Following a transformational funding boost of £2.5m earlier this year, researchers at Queen Mary such as Dr Sindhuja Sridharan, who has been appointed as co-lead, working alongside Dr Sara Badodi, are working to build a more complete picture of how this disease works.

  • Imperial College London 

    The team at Imperial College London is expanding its investigation of the effect of arginine deprivation and radiation to include DIPG. Arginine is a key amino acid for brain tumours and the research team at Imperial has already shown that depriving brain tumours of arginine can cause them to die. The team at Imperial is expanding its research to establish whether this metabolic therapy could make radiotherapy more effective in treating DIPG.

  • University of Plymouth 

    Our Centre at the University of Plymouth is working on projects to understand more about ependymomas – a tumour which only 72% of children will survive for five years or more.

    During Childhood Cancer Awareness Month we will share news of funding awarded to two researchers focused on brain tumours which present in children.

Your support is vital and a donation of any amount today will help support this vital research. Help us fund the fight.

Together we will find a cure.

Donate now