Latest news with #BrainTumourCharity
Powys County Times
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Powys County Times
Boatside Live returns to holiday park near Builth Wells
A POWYS holiday park is putting on a day of live music and family fun this weekend, with proceeds going to two charities. Boatside Holiday Accommodation, near Aberedw, is bringing back Boatside Live for its third year in 2025, with this year's event being held this Saturday, June 7. Admission is free but any money raised from the event will be split between Builth Wells Community Support and the Brain Tumour Charity. There promises to be an amazing line-up of bands, with live music all day, including local bands, acoustic sets and headline acts. Acts confirmed include Amy Rose, James Rees, Curious Fiction, AB & The Journeymen, Fundlewarp & The Lampshade Catchers, Feverjaw, The Vulcan Straight, Gypsophila, Calling All Cars and The Playboys. The event starts at 11am and ends at 11pm and there will be plenty of entertainment for all the family, from face painting and a sweet stall, a charity teddy stall and a charity plant sale, organised by Aberedw Gardening Club. There will be food trucks and stalls, including The Diner Mobile Catering, Gino's Ice Cream, a charity cake stall and a coffee cart. There will also be a charity raffle and donation stations.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Jersey woman launches brain tumour support group
A Jersey woman with brain cancer has set up a support group for islanders with brain Reid was diagnosed at the end of 2024 and is now undergoing a 12-month course of Jersey Brain Tumour Support Group is a place for people to share their experiences and help them feel less alone, she said."From all the things I've done on social media so far there's so many people out there as well who are family friends, carers, or have lost loved ones to brain cancer. She added: "I think it's so important that we can all stick together and hopefully help give people some hope." She added it had been "a really nice place to be able to have people from Jersey who obviously have the same experiences of having to travel off-island to receive treatment"."I just thought it would be a really nice idea of a local group where we can connect and share stories and hopefully support each other."Ms Reid is also set to DJ at the Watersplash on Friday night as part of its Dance to Defeat Cancer event - raising money for Brain Tumour Charity Jersey and the Bone Cancer Research Trust.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Brain tumour diagnosis could be made within hours, say researchers
A new method for diagnosing brain tumours could cut the time patients wait for treatments by weeks to hours and raise the possibility of novel types of therapy, researchers have said. According to the Brain Tumour Charity, about 740,000 people around the world are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, around half of which are non-cancerous. Once a brain tumour is found, a sample is taken during surgery and cells are immediately studied under a microscope by pathologists, who can often identify the type of tumour. However, genetic testing helps to make or confirm the diagnosis. 'Almost all of the samples will go for further testing anyway. But for some of them it will be absolutely crucial, because you won't know what you're looking at,' said Prof Matthew Loose, a co-author of the research from the University of Nottingham. Loose noted that in the UK there could be a lag of eight weeks or longer between surgery and the full results of genetic tests, delaying the confirmation of a diagnosis and hence treatment such as chemotherapy. Writing in the journal Neuro-Oncology, Loose and colleagues report how they harnessed what is known as nanopore technology to cut this timeframe. The approach is based on devices that contain membranes featuring hundreds to thousands of tiny pores, each of which has an electric current passing through it. When DNA approaches a pore it is 'unzipped' into single strands; as a strand passes through the pore it disrupts the electric current. Crucially, the different building blocks of DNA – and modifications to them – disrupt the current in characteristic ways, allowing the DNA to be 'read', or sequenced. These sequences are then compared against those relating to different types of brain tumours, using a software program built by the team. Loose said the process costs about £400 per sample – on a par with current genetic testing. The researchers first trialled the approach on 30 samples that had previously been extracted from patients, before using it on 50 samples at the time they were removed. They said 24 (80%) and 45 (90%) of these samples respectively were fully and correctly classified by the new approach after 24 hours, a success rate on a par with traditional genetic testing methods. However, 38 (76%) of the 50 samples that were prospectively collected were confidently classified within one hour, meaning the time from sample removal to surgeons having the results could be as little as two hours. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion While Loose said the main goal was to make sure the information is available when the patient is next discussed by their medical team, typically in the same week, he said the rapid results could also reveal whether more aggressive surgery is needed while the patient is already in theatre, or if surgery is likely to offer little benefit. And there are other possibilities. 'If you could identify, as we think we might be able to, the specific tumour type fast enough, and drugs were available that could be administered during surgery directly to the tumour area, then you have opened up a whole new class of potential treatment options,' he said. In addition, he said, rapid diagnoses could help ensure patients are recruited into relevant clinical trials for new treatments as quickly as possible. Dr Matt Williams, a consultant oncologist at Imperial College healthcare NHS trust, who was not involved in the work, said while faster diagnoses were welcome and reduced the period of uncertainty for patients, the main question was how the new technology could be used to change care. 'At the moment [intra-operative treatments] don't really exist, although several groups are working on it ,' he said. 'But if [we] want to unlock these approaches, we need to be able to make those diagnoses in the operating theatre to then be able to deploy these treatments.'
BBC News
26-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Brain Tumour Awareness Month: Kent film club screens documentary
A Kent film club set up by a woman who lost her partner to a brain tumour has screened a documentary showcasing the realities of this "dreadful disease".Canterbury Christ Church University academic Jane Milton runs the club, which was set up last year with the Curzon Canterbury Westgate partner, BBC South East sports reporter Neil Bell, died in March 2018 after a battle with brain Milton, who decided to present the film Red Herring during Brain Tumour Awareness Month, said: "I was told we know more about black holes than we do about the brain." Red Herring tells the story of writer and director Kit Vincent, who was diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumour at the age of Milton said she was certain that she wanted this to be the first film she presented at the club."This is a great way for him to process his grief; in a way it would be legacy, but it's life-affirming and very humorous – he's incredibly brave," she said. Alongside a desire to raise awareness is the feeling that occasions like Monday's screening help "keep Neil's memory alive".Ms Milton said: "We think about Neil every day; my boys, his family, his miss him dreadfully, but we also think about the happy times, the memories."According to the Brain Tumour Charity, over 12,000 people in the UK are diagnosed each year with a primary brain tumour – 33 people a form of cancer reduces life expectancy by 27 years on average – the highest of any cancer – with just 12% of adults surviving for five years after diagnosis.
BBC News
23-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Penryn brain tumour fundraising runner inspired by grandfather
A runner from Cornwall is preparing for the London Landmarks half marathon to honour her mother and grandfather who both had brain Corbett's grandfather Michael Jarrett died in 2018 after a late diagnosis of a glioblastoma, while her mother was diagnosed with a benign tumour 11 years Corbett said of her grandfather, who she called Pap: "He is my driving force and the absolute power and the will to get out in the rain and will push me over the line at the end of the half marathon."The 34-year-old from Penryn will run the 13 mile (21km) route, which starts on Whitehall and finishes by Trafalgar Square on 6 April. Ms Corbett, who is fundraising for the Brain Tumour Charity, said: "Pap was the kindest, happiest, most thoughtful person ever, and always thought the absolute world of his family."We first noticed something was wrong when he started getting headaches consistently, and he lost the ability to do his crosswords, and enjoy horse racing – his favourites. "Then he drove through a red light, which as a lorry driver was extremely unlike him."Ms Corbett said despite her mother's tumour being benign it was "not without challenges".Her training route takes her past Cornwall beauty spots and the harbour, castles and beaches around Falmouth and includes running three to four times a week since last April in all said she wanted to raise awareness of brain tumours and would also be holding a fundraising bingo night on 29 March at St Gluvias Cricket Club, Penryn." Pap is a big running inspiration to me – he ran marathons," she added.
