Dorking family's world turned upside down by cancer diagnosis

A family's "entire world turned upside down" after receiving a double cancer diagnosis.

Richard Brown, 46, from Dorking, Surrey, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour while his five-year-old daughter Mabel was undergoing treatment for leukaemia.

His wife Holly Brown, 43, said the news was "beyond comprehension".

The family have resorted to crowdfunding to pay for immunotherapy treatment abroad.

Mr Brown had an unexpected seizure in May 2022 and an MRI scan revealed a mass on his brain.

He was later diagnosed with a glioblastoma, which carries a typical prognosis of 12-18 months.

Mrs Brown said: "Finding out Richard had an inoperable brain tumour while Mabel was still receiving cancer treatment was beyond comprehension."

"Our entire world turned upside down once again. For cancer to strike our family twice like this was devastating and frightening," she added.

Mr Brown is now undergoing immunotherapy in Germany.

To fund this, the family have started a crowdfunding campaign as immunotherapy, plus additional prescription drugs, supplements and travel expenses costs about £9,000 per month.

"Brain tumours are so fundamentally under-funded and under-researched in this country, so Richard's only option is to travel to Germany every month to access this treatment and it is extremely expensive," Mrs Brown said.

According to the charity Brain Tumour Research, brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. The charity said 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the disease.

Dr Karen Noble, director of research, policy and innovation at the charity, said: "Just 12% of all brain tumour patients live beyond five years, compared with an average of 54% across all other cancers. That has to change."

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