New researcher Claire joins Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre thanks to your support
Last Christmas, over 180 people answered our call for help to raise funds for our Phase 1 clinical trial on drug delivery. Thanks to your generosity, we are thrilled to announce that Claire Evans is set to join the team at the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre (CBTRC) as Clinical Research Fellow in Paediatric Neuro-Oncology in February. With finding new treatments a priority, Claire will be leading this important element of our research.
“We are delighted that Claire will be joining us in February. Thanks to the generosity of our patient networks, alumni and friends, Claire will be leading innovative research into successful ways to deliver powerful cancer drugs directly into the tumour – killing the cancerous cells while reducing the debilitating side-effects which often come with traditional treatments. This is an important step towards making our vision of targeted treatments for childhood brain tumours a reality – one made possible in great part thanks to your generous and continued support”.
- Professor David Walker, Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre
Connor and Verity – one year on
You may remember Verity and her son Connor from last year’s Christmas appeal. Connor was first diagnosed with a brain tumour aged 11 – and has endured endless exhausting cycles of chemotherapy and radiotherapy for the past eight years. We caught up with them to find out what has happened over the past year.
“This past year has been a good one for us. In October 2015, just before the Christmas appeal began, the lesion on Connor’s right temporal lobe had grown to the point where he could begin stereotactic radiotherapy.
“Christmas was nerve-wracking, waiting to see if the treatment was working. Connor stopped chemotherapy in March and last month, we received the news that we’ve been longing for – the tumour is a whisper of what it once was. It’s awful watching your child suffer, feeling powerless as there is nothing you can do to help – so these moments of joy and celebration are so precious. They give us hope.”
“I’m very proud of Connor – he’s a real fighter and embraces everything life throws at him. Over the summer we met Russell Howard, and thanks to a fantastic charity called Give Them a Sporting Chance, we all went to the London Film and Comic Con which was great fun. Sadly, Connor now has very poor short term memory as a result of all the treatment he has had so we take lots of photos and videos of special moments like these to help keep his memories alive.
“Now Connor is 19 he is also looking for more independence. He’s started attending different classes and support groups which are great for building his self-confidence and skills. Though we all live under the constant shadow of the ‘next scan’ and what it could bring, we’re feeling hopeful and looking to the future.
“I send my deepest thanks to everyone who gave a gift last Christmas to the CBTRC fundraising appeal – your generosity is helping make an exciting new Clinical Trial happen next spring. This research gives me hope that one day Connor will be able to live without the constant fear of having another tumour discovered. For me – and so many other mothers in my position – that really is the greatest Christmas gift of all.”
Celebrating 20 years
Next year is the 20th anniversary of the CBTRC and we will be celebrating the great strides that have been made in diagnosis, treatment and awareness thanks to the centre’s life-changing research. Keep up to date with all the latest news from the centre on Facebook and Twitter.