Brain cancer petition debated in Parliament

A campaign demanding more funding for brain cancer research has been discussed in Parliament, after an e-petition attracted more than 100,000 signatures.

Sarah Bainbridge, of the group Brain Cancer Justice, lost her daughter Jess, 36, less than a year after she was diagnosed with brain cancer, and described the visit to Westminster as "very emotional".

The group is also urging the government to expand access to clinical trials for all brain tumour patients and accelerate diagnostics and treatment.

After hearing the debate, health minister Sharon Hodgson MP assured Westminster Hall that the government would "fund high quality" brain cancer research.

The Brain Tumor Charity says brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40, yet account for just 1% of cancer research funding.

Bainbridge, from Appleton, Oxfordshire, said: "We're driven by passion, by anger that things haven't changed, and it's amazing that we've got our debate today."

She said the government also needed to employ a representative "that sticks with this when the government changes. Every time the government changes you start this all over again and brain cancer patients just don't have that luxury of time".

She was joined by other members of the group, including co-founder Georgie Maynard, from Bessels Leigh in Oxfordshire, who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour three years ago.

Stevie Biltcliffe, whose father died four weeks ago of brain cancer, told the BBC: "The treatment was very minimal, very basic, very unchanged throughout the years and your worst nightmare came true.

"Everything about it, the whole journey brings fear to those when they hear those words."

Opening up the debate, MP Paul Davies commended Brain Cancer Justice's "remarkable campaign".

"Patients and families have waited long enough, we must turn terminal into treatable," he concluded.

Hodgson told MPs and campaigners that the government was going to implement the Rare Cancers Act "in full" and would employ a "national speciality lead" for rare cancers in the summer.

"Implementing the act will also make it easier for researchers to connect with patients living with rare cancers, including brain tumours, and streamline recruitment into clinical trials."

The Department of Health and Social Care previously said it was "establishing a national Brain Tumour Research Consortium" and announced a £13.7m investment to support groundbreaking research to develop novel treatments.

Responding to the petition, it said: "We understand that more needs to be done to boost research into brain tumours.

"Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years, including for brain cancer".

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