CCLG Special Named Funds The Riley Cameron Forget Me Not Fund, The Toti Worboys Fund, Fred Bennett’s ‘Don’t Look Down’ Fund and Arabella’s Leukaemia (ALL) Research Fund have provided the funding for this vital research.
Led by Professor Christina Halsey at the University of Glasgow, the project aims to understand why acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) treatment can cause long-term damage to the brain for some patients.
Professor Halsey said:
Leukaemia cells can hide in the fluid around the brain, so we give chemotherapy into this fluid to kill all of the cancer and stop it from growing back. This treatment is very good at killing the leukaemia, but it can also hurt normal brain cells. This project is about reducing the side effects of chemotherapy on brain function. It’s really important because up to one-third of children can have problems with learning and memory after leukaemia treatment and we don’t know how best to prevent or treat this.
Professor Halsey’s team will test patients’ brain function and use surveys to identify any brain-related side effects as soon as they appear, either during or after treatment. They hope to combine this with information about a patient and their treatment to show what makes a child more likely to have these problems, which could ultimately lead to changes in treatment to improve quality of life for children with ALL.
Professor Halsey added: “If we can find out why some children have problems and others don’t, we might unlock new treatments or be able to prevent it from happening in the first place.”
Professor Halsey is also keen to acknowledge the amazing support of the families who have funded her work.
She said:
Our team is so grateful to be given this opportunity. Most cancer research funding goes on finding new treatments, but we think it is also really important that children who are cured of leukaemia grow up happy and healthy with no long-term side effects. It is families that champion this type of research, and we couldn’t do it without them. To them I want to say thank you so much – you are such an important part of this team effort.
Louise set up Fred Bennett’s ‘Don’t Look Down’ Fund in memory of her 14-year-old son Fred. Since setting up the fund, Fred’s family, friends and a huge number of supporters have worked tirelessly to raise over £112,000.
Speaking about the new project, Louise said:
This new research project is exactly why we set up the fund. Cancer treatments take such a devastating toll on children’s bodies, even those who survive. Fred wanted to live his normal, active life, even when he was on treatment. This research project could potentially make those treatments kinder, with fewer lasting effects, which is exactly what we hoped to achieve.
The Toti Worboys Fund, set up in memory of Thomas ‘Toti’ Worboys, also supported Professor Halsey’s project.
Toti’s dad, Nick said:
The fund is a living memorial to Toti. It’s our way of keeping his memory alive in a positive way. We want to fund research projects as they are an investment into helping children avoid and deal with cancer. The dream is that we’ll crack cancer entirely eventually, so the projects are stepping stones to that dream.
Vicki Brunt, Head of Fundraising at CCLG, said:
We are so grateful for our Special Named Funds, who help us fund research that matters most to patients and families. The long-term side effects of childhood cancer treatment are a key concern for many families during treatment, so we are delighted to be funding projects like Professor Halsey’s that could make a big difference for children in the future.