Brain tumour patient Amy Quin has raised enough money to fund two days of research to find a cure for the disease.

The £4,800 was gathered in sponsorship by Amy and her two sisters, Abbie and Hayley, who undertook the sky dive last year to mark the first anniversary of Amy’s diagnosis with a grade two astrocytoma.

Amy and her partner Lewis Goodbody, travelled from their home in Dorchester to tour the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Portsmouth where researchers are focused on improving treatments for patients and, ultimately, finding a cure. They were also accompanied by Amy’s sister Hayley and best friend Victoria Knapman, as they placed two tiles on the Wall of Hope at the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Portsmouth. Each tile laid on the wall represents the £2,740 it costs to fund a day of research. Work commitments meant that Abbie was unable to be there.

Just last week, Amy, who is a barber at Flash Harrys in Dorchester, shaved her own head as she was losing her hair due to radiotherapy. The treatment followed a scan last autumn which revealed Amy’s tumour, a grade two astrocytoma which was first diagnosed in May 2016, had grown and required intervention.

Touring the laboratory on Wednesday (14^th March) she said: “It was a great privilege to see the incredible work that is taking place and has given me hope that things are changing for patients like me. Research is the best chance for us as, with quality research, maybe there will be a new treatment in a year’s time and my tumour will shrink and become operable.”

Led by Prof Geoff Pilkington, the team at Brain Tumour Research’s Centre of Excellence at the University of Portsmouth is now one of the largest dedicated teams of lab-based researchers working on this disease within the UK. The team is currently working on five complementary research programmes to investigate brain tumours in both adults and children, including primary and metastatic tumours. Their goal is to create novel and multi-targeted therapies for the treatment of brain cancer.

Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, they kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.

Tim Green, Community Fundraising Manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “We are really grateful to Amy and her family and friends for raising vital funds to support important research into a disease which affects so many people and their families each year. Stories like hers remind us all that we cannot allow this desperate situation to continue.”

To make a donation to Brain Tumour Research go to https://www.braintumourresearch.org/donation

For further information, please contact:
Susan Castle-Smith at Brain Tumour Research on 01908 867206 or 07887 241639 or Susan@braintumourresearch.org

Notes to Editors

Brain Tumour Research is the only national charity in the UK focused on funding sustainable research to find a cure for brain tumours. We have established a game-changing network of world-class Research Centres of Excellence in the UK. Embracing passionate member charities nationwide, over £6 million was raised towards research and support during 2017.

We are campaigning to see the national spend on research into brain tumours increased to £30 - £35 million a year, in line with breast cancer and leukaemia. The unprecedented success of our 2015 petition led to the 2016 Westminster Hall debate and Brain Tumour Research taking a leading role in the Government’s Task and Finish Working Group convened to tackle the historic underfunding for research with the report being published in 2018.

Key statistics on brain tumours:

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

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