Sudden diagnosis
In January 2018, Catherine Roberts and Bryony Powell were travelling in New Zealand in their campervan when Catherine, a talented netball player who represented Wales and the Celtic Dragons, began to get headaches. Bryony said:
“Headaches were out of character for her. They would start suddenly and got worse over the next few weeks. Catherine was very passionate about fitness and nutrition, everything you’re told that gives you a longer life she did, so we didn’t think much more of it.
“One day at work, she had a severe headache and vomited which was a red flag to us, and we took her to the GP who believed it could be caused by iron deficiency. Around a week later, she started to fall asleep regularly and became difficult to wake, she also became confused and found it difficult to retain information, escalating to her telling me she had seen a friend of hers that morning who I knew she hadn’t as we were still in New Zealand and her friend was back in Wales. The confusion meant we went back to the GP one week after our first visit, and a week later she had a CT scan revealing the tumour.”
Catherine, from Blackwood, was able to travel back to Wales, and hoped to undergo radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff, but her condition rapidly declined. She died on May 23rd, 2018, just a few months after that first headache. She was 27 years old.
“Catherine was the most fun-loving, positive person I have ever met. She would light up any room she walked in to with her massive smile and warmth. Catherine loved to travel and thrived on new experiences and adventures including bungee jumping and sky diving.
“Once a week – usually on a Sunday – she would sit us down together and we would say all the things we were grateful for. Catherine sadly wasn’t here for a long time, but she was definitely here for a good time.
“Prior to receiving the diagnosis we had no knowledge of brain tumours. I had researched her symptoms online which suggested a brain tumour but I never in a million years thought someone so fit, healthy and young could have it.”
Bryony
The Catherine Roberts Fund
After losing Catherine, her friends and family set up a Supporter Group, The Catherine Roberts Fund, within The Brain Tumour Charity, to fundraise for research into high grade brain tumours. The fund has recently celebrated raising more than £50,000. Bryony said:
“Catherine absolutely loved life and was always striving for more, and really wanted to make the most of it. Without her, our lives will never be the same again. We don’t want other families to go through the horrible journey that so many of us have.“
We need more research
“It is so important for more money to be invested into the research of glioblastomas, as treatment options such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy aren’t effective at treating them, due to their complex nature and mutation abilities.
“We need better options as currently, glioblastomas are a death sentence, which isn’t good enough. People deserve a chance to fight it, and with brain tumours being the biggest cancer killer in under 40s, it’s simply not good enough that this area is so under invested.”
How is our research helping?
We have recently funded two new glioblastoma research projects at Cardiff University. These projects aim to find innovative ways to treat this aggressive brain tumour as part of our Future Leaders programme.
Dr Mathew Clement
Mat is a Research Fellow in the Division of Infection & Immunity, School of Medicine at Cardiff University. He is investigating how glioblastoma may avoid the immune system, with early findings suggesting that a protein called IL-10 could help cancer growth by blocking immune attacks. His research will develop ways to block IL-10, which could offer new approaches to treating glioblastoma.
Dr Emily Bates
Emily is a researcher at Cardiff University. Her work focusses on developing “smart viruses” to offer new treatments for glioblastoma. These “smart viruses” can target and kill cancer cells, while sparing healthy brain cells. They can also deliver immunotherapies to boost the immune system, aiming to reduce side effects and improve treatment.
