TWO scientists from are to receive £12 million from Cancer Research UK and the Brain Tumour Charity to find treatment for brain tumours.
Professor Steven Pollard and Professor Neil Carragher from Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre have been awarded £5.8m and £6.3m respectively. The money will support research and develop treatments for glioblastoma, one of the most common types of brain tumour and one of the hardest cancers to treat.
Every year in Scotland around 1000 people are diagnosed with brain tumours and 470 people die as a result.
They are so difficult to treat because not enough is known about what starts and drives the disease. There are further challenges translating discoveries in the lab to treatments for patients.
This means survival has barely improved over the last 40 years.
Professor Carragher said: “This substantial funding allows us to make huge strides in finding the best treatment for each patient, giving them a better chance of survival.
“We urgently need to develop therapies for brain tumours that tackle
treatment resistance and relapse, and with less toxicity for a better quality of life for patients. By addressing these challenges, we hope to improve survival and bring new hope to people with brain tumours and their families.”
Professor Pollard will lead an international team of scientists, researching glioblastoma biology that has not been explored until now.
They aim to uncover new strategies that could prevent brain tumours from returning.
The scientists will also investigate whether key processes during brain development are essential for the tumours to develop to see if these processes could be targets for new treatments.
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