A woman who lost her husband to a brain tumour was at Westminster as MPs and clinicians reviewed a year of momentous progress.

Wendy McMahon travelled from her home in Mottingham for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours (APPGBT) at the House of Commons on Tuesday 17^th July. 

She was among other families, patients, clinicians, carers, scientists, and MPs at the event as the group set out priorities for the forthcoming parliamentary year. She heard that the APPGBT would drive forward recommendations of an inquiry into the social and economic impacts of brain tumours when it reports in the autumn.

Among the speakers was Sue Farrington Smith, Chief Executive of the Brain Tumour Research charity, who said: “We are proud to have played a key role as the APPGBT has campaigned for change over 12 years. We now look forward to the inquiry report as well as continuing to see the impact of the newly-formed Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission along with new funding commitments and other initiatives announced this year.”

Glenn was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour in October 2013 and given a survival prognosis of 12 to 18 months. He passed away in June 2015, having married Wendy just 15 months earlier, knowing that their lives together were soon to be cut short. Wendy determined to help raise awareness of brain tumours which kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. She has set up The Glenn McMahon Foundation, which to date has raised an incredible £50,000 to help find a cure for this devastating disease.

Wendy said: “When I lost Glenn I vowed I would do everything to ensure he would leave a lasting legacy. The pain of my loss will never go away but I do take some comfort that now, at last, things appear to be changing for the better. We must continue to fight for increased funding for research into brain tumours as this is the only way of improving outcomes for patients and, ultimately, finding a cure.”

For further information, please contact:
Liz Fussey at Brain Tumour Research on 07811 068357 liz@braintumourresearch.org

Notes to Editors

Brain Tumour Research is the only national charity in the UK dedicated to raising funds for continuous and sustainable scientific research into brain tumours, and we are a leading voice calling for greater support and action for research into what scientists are calling the last battleground against cancer.

We are building a network of experts in sustainable research at dedicated Centres of Excellence whilst influencing the Government and larger cancer charities to invest more nationally.

We welcome recent funding announcements for research into brain tumours from the UK Government and Cancer Research UK – £65 million pledged over the next five years. However, this potential funding of £13 million a year comes with a catch – money will only be granted to quality research proposals and, due to the historic lack of investment, there may not be enough of these applications that qualify for grants from this pot.

We want research funding parity with breast cancer and leukaemia. We are calling for a £30-35 million investment every year for research into brain tumours in order to fund the basic research groundwork needed to accelerate the translation from laboratory discoveries into clinical trials and fast-track new therapies for this devastating disease.

The Brain Tumour Research charity is a powerful campaigning organisation and represents the voice of the brain tumour community across the UK. We helped establish and provide the ongoing Secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Brain Tumours (APPGBT). We are supporting the crucial APPGBT 2018 Inquiry into the economic and social impacts of brain tumours and will publish their report in the autumn. We are also a key influencer in the development strategy for the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. 

Key statistics on brain tumours:

• Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age
• Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
• Just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours
• In the UK, 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour
• Brain tumours kill more children than leukaemia
• Brain tumours kill more men under 45 than prostate cancer
• Brain tumours kill more women under 35 than breast cancer
• Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers

Please quote Brain Tumour Research as the source when using this information. Additional facts and statistics are available from our website. We can also provide case studies and research expertise for the media.