Teesside woman calls for urgent funds in personalised brain tumour treatments
Brain Tumour Research says more than 100,000 people are estimated to be living with a brain tumour
The daughter of a Teesside woman's calling for urgent investment in personalised brain tumour treatments.
78 year-old Rosemary Hill was told she had inoperable glioblastoma.
Her daughter, Dr. Catherine Bladen from Middlesbrough, said: "As a scientist, it was a sobering moment seeing my mum’s scans and fully understanding the implications. Treatment options are still surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy – the same blunt tools we’ve had for decades. There are no biologics routinely available for brain tumours because of the blood-brain barrier, and my mum’s non-methylated tumour means treatment is even less effective.
“Breast cancer, leukaemia and many others have been transformed by biologics and personalised medicine. Brain tumours have not. Treatment has barely changed in 40 years. One rule does not fit all; there are more than 100 types of brain tumours, yet we still don’t tailor treatment in the way we should.
“We tried to get mum onto a clinical trial but there was no interest. Once you’re over 75, this disease is treated differently, as if your life matters less. That should never be the case. My mum was active, working, and capable. 78 is not old in our family."
Brain Tumour Research says more than 100,000 people are estimated to be living with a brain tumour or the long-term impact of their diagnosis. Yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours since records began in 2002.
The call for greater awareness and earlier diagnosis comes as Brain Tumour Research launches a new Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Nottingham, which aims to identify the earliest signs of tumour recurrence and uncover new drug targets that could allow for earlier, more personalised treatment approaches.
Determined to make a difference, Catherine and her colleagues at Vector Labs have taken action. Instead of sending Christmas cards last December, the family asked for donations to the charity Brain Tumour Research, and the company held a Christmas Jumper Day in, raising £800.
Catherine has also committed to an ambitious programme of endurance fundraising challenges throughout 2026, including the Newcastle 10k, Middlesbrough Half Marathon, a variety of triathlons in Cheshire and Liverpool, and a five and a half mile swim in Lake Coniston in the Lake District.
Catherine said: “I’m built more for strength than speed, which is why I’ve chosen challenging endurance events to raise vital funds for research. I’ve never known anyone to survive more than 12 months with a glioblastoma. That’s why we need personalised medicine; it would be revolutionary. People’s health should be a priority.”
Letty Greenfield, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said:
“Catherine’s story powerfully exposes the devastating reality faced by families affected by glioblastoma and the urgent need for better, more personalised treatments. Brain tumours remain one of the most underfunded and least-survivable cancers. Fundraising efforts like those led by Catherine and Vector Labs are vital to accelerating research and giving families hope for the future.”
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 say they're 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.