Falmouth actor calls for more funding for brain tumour research
Patients, campaigners and politicians are gathering at Westminster today
An actor from Falmouth is among campaigners, patients and politicians gathering at Westminster calling for brain tumours to be declared a 'clinical priority'.
Netflix star Craig Russell is calling for more funding for research into the disease.
One year on from undergoing surgery for a brain tumour Craig, 46, who played Mark Antony in the drama Queen Cleopatra, joined the charity Brain Tumour Research for the launch of its 2024 manifesto at Westminster.
The dad-of-two from Falmouth, Cornwall, was diagnosed with a meningioma after suffering from months of migraines and episodes of brain fog. He was going blind in his left eye and his skull became deformed. He underwent surgery and had part of his skull replaced.
He said: “Before being told I had a brain tumour, I didn’t know how little funding research this disease receives. It’s opened up conversations with friends and family who have commented how much more they are noticing brain tumour stories in their everyday lives.
“The fact brain tumours 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 since records began in 2002 is ludicrous.”
Craig spoke before MPs to highlight the urgent need for change. In 2018, the Government made £40 million available to brain tumour researchers, but £28 million of this total still has not been deployed.
The manifesto “Time to do things differently” calls on the Government to invest properly into brain tumour research, and calls for six achievable commitments:
- A detailed response to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours (APPGBT) inquiry report, Pathway to a Cure, and an update on the plans to action the recommendations within the report
- Declare brain tumours a clinical priority
- Establish annual research spend across adult and paediatric brain tumours of £35 million per year by 2028
- Develop a roadmap for full national deployment of the £40 million research funds made available in 2018, in partnership with Brain Tumour Research
- A monitoring system for this spend, with decision-making authority, to be overseen by a new Brain Tumour Research Institute – made up of clinicians, researchers and charities – specifically targeted with funding research that will drive both discovery and translational research, so we find cures
- Increased participation of adult and paediatric brain tumour patients in clinical trials.
Derek Thomas, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours (APPGBT), said: “The response to concern about the lack of deployment has been that everything that is fundable is funded, but that is not acceptable. All we do is defend existing processes and systems that have proven ineffective. The fact that little progress has been made in the treatment and cure of brain cancer sufferers demonstrates this. We must act in the interest of brain tumour patients, and have a braver, more creative and determined approach to address the lack of deployment of research funding and punch through all unnecessary and unacceptable barriers to research.”
The Westminster event, hosted by Brain Tumour Research, took place during Brain Tumour Awareness Month which culminates in Wear A Hat Day, the charity’s flagship annual event, on Thursday 28 March.
Among the attendees was Peter Realf, who lost his son Stephen to an astrocytoma brain tumour in August 2014 when he was just 26.
He said: “Research gave my son hope. The campaigning we have done since Stephen died, and the impact we have had since, has given me the belief that he didn’t die in vain. It is vital the Government declares brain tumours a clinical priority. World-class research is being done in the UK, but researchers need more funding to make a real difference for brain tumour patients.”
Dan Knowles, Chief Executive of Brain Tumour Research, said: "£28 million of promised Government funding still hasn’t been deployed. That money is yet to fund researchers, and it is yet to provide any new hope for patients and their families. Research investment leads to innovation and clinical trials, resulting in new knowledge, new techniques, new therapeutics and improved options and outcomes for patients. If there isn’t investment in research clinical advancements will not happen.
“Other cancers in recent decades have seen increased research investment and associated improvements in survival. Now is the time for us to make the same investment in brain tumours and find a cure for this devastating disease.”
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure. The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia.
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Brain cancer is a devastating disease, which is why we've made £40 million available for research projects specifically looking for new treatments and therapies to tackle this illness.
"We've invested in research infrastructure, workshops and training for clinicians to further progress developments in this field. And we continue to encourage further applications for research funding from successful candidates through the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
"We recognise the need to do more and will be convening a roundtable for researchers to come together to discuss how to drive faster progress in this important area in May."
The Department spokesperson added: "Brain tumours is a difficult research area with a relatively small research community and we are relying on researchers to submit high-quality research proposals. "We've invested in every suitable research application made."