Dad in research call as Sheffield girl faces untreatable brain tumour

The father of a 10-year-old girl who was diagnosed with an untreatable brain tumour has called for more funding for research into the condition.

Thalia Toseland, of Sheffield, began to have difficulties controlling movement in her left hand and leg in February.

She was diagnosed with a tumour at the top of her brain stem in March and her family were told only experimental treatments are available.

Her dad, Chris, said money for research was "so important" for patients.

Chris, who works in cancer research, said it felt "like a sledgehammer had come down on us" when he was told that Thalia had developed a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma tumour.

Brain tumours kill more people under the age of 40 than any other cancer, according to charity Brain Tumour Research, but Chris said there were no treatment options available.

"In the UK, there are very limited options. There are more options abroad but only at trial stage, so it is experimental," he told BBC Look North.

Thalia underwent six weeks of radiotherapy and responded well, Chris said.

"She had lost that element of being a child over the past couple of months, and over the past two weeks things have started to come back for her."

He hopes she will be able to join a trial for an experimental drug in the Netherlands but said it was "a roll of the dice" to try any drugs in the early stages of development.

"There is no treatment or therapy available for this disease," he said.

"This disease is affecting young people, children and young adults and so much more should be done to give them a good quality of life."

The government announced £40m of funding for brain tumour research in 2018.

Brain Tumour Research is calling for the government to ringfence £110m of funding to bring national investment to £35m a year by 2028.

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