In 2018-19, a research total of £22.7 million was spent in relation to brain tumours, with The Brain Tumour Charity contributing 34% of this number. This is the highest amount of funding since 2002 (when the NCRI started collecting data).
We are not a member of the NCRI and therefore, if our figure is incorporated with that of NCRI partner organisations, of all cancer research spending (amounting to more than £700 million), 3.2% is now being invested on brain tumours.
Furthermore, this proportion has improved by close to 0.8 percentage points from 2017-18.
Analysis by the NCRI shows that the rise in cancer funding more generally has been boosted by an enhanced emphasis on early detection, diagnosis and prognosis.
The Brain Tumour Charity is the UK’s leader funding of brain tumour research, with the aim of developing new treatments, increasing survival and finding a cure more quickly.
Our current research strategy, ‘A Cure Can’t Wait’, provides more detail on the research areas that we are concentrating on, so that we can achieve our strategic goals of doubling survival and halving the harm caused by a brain tumour.
We very much welcome the continuing rise in research funding for brain tumours, but more needs to be done.
Indeed, the NCRI figures indicate that spending on some of the more-common cancers remains considerably higher. This is despite brain tumours being the biggest cancer killer of those under 40.
We remain committed towards funding pioneering research in order to bring us closer to our vision of a world where brain tumours are defeated.