Brain cancer fund reaches £250,000 milestone

The University's Glioblastoma (Brain Cancer) Fund has reached its initial £250,000 target.

Dr Michael Cearns is Kevin O’Riordan Brain Tumour PhD Fellow, a position funded by the campaign, and is undertaking ground-breaking research into immunotherapy, a promising new treatment for brain cancer. The project is a collaboration between neurosurgeons Professor Michael Jenkinson and Dr Rasheed Zakaria, and world leading expert in immuno-oncology Professor Christian Ottensmeier, who is also Director of Clinical Research at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.

Glioblastoma is the most common type of primary brain cancer and the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 in the UK. Despite intensive treatment with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the average survival is around 12 months, with less than 5 in 100 patients living for 5 years.

Immunotherapy is a revolutionary new type of treatment that manipulates the body’s own immune system into fighting cancer. Researchers at the University of Liverpool, working with The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, are studying the immune system response in long-term survivors and comparing the results with those patients who do not respond to treatment. The University’s Glioblastoma fund has been pivotal in supporting this innovative research.

Dr Cearns has studied the type of immune cells present within glioblastoma. This involved using cutting-edge techniques to reveal the genetic fingerprint of these cells and how they interact with one another and with cancer cells.

To develop new immunotherapy treatments for people living with glioblastoma and to understand how patients will respond to treatments, the University is looking to raise the fundraising target to £400,000 to enable this important research to continue.

This additional support will be used to develop researchers’ understanding of how the different cells inside tumours respond to different treatments so that they can provide the right treatment for people diagnosed with brain cancer. This new target will allow researchers to develop plans for a trial of new treatments for glioblastoma within 5 years.

Dr Michael Cearns said: “We are so grateful to the many donors and patients who have allowed this important work to take place. We are now in a position to be generating new insights into this terrible disease and hope that we can turn this into new treatment approaches in the coming years”.

The Glioblastoma Fund was launched in February 2022.  Fundraising was kickstarted by Jim Corcoran B.E.M. who continues to work with local business and organisations (including the Excelsior Masonic Lodge in West Lancashire, Merseyside Police and Tesco store employees in Litherland) to secure donations.

The fund has received tremendous support to date from donors who have been fundraising across the world. These include, Kathryn Wright who, along with her friends, took part in a colour run in memory of her father. Last year, Eoin O’Grady ran the Auckland marathon in memory of Kevin O’Riordan, as part of the Seven 4 Kevin fundraising campaign, and Kathryn Stuart and her daughters and friends climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in September 2022 in memory of Ian Stuart. Dr Michael Cearns was also awarded a highly prestigious £50,000 grant from the Royal College of Surgeons of England / Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Treatment Trust Fund.

Most recently the Haugh family raised donations in memory of family member Robert Jones, who sadly died from glioblastoma in 2022 and Naseem’s Manx Brain Tumour Charity, a charity set up in memory of Naseem, a vibrant young girl with a passion for helping others, donated to the campaign.

The fund is looking to raise an additional £150,000 to continue research into glioblastoma. If you would like to donate, please visit here.