Grieving mum welcomes new brain tumour treatment breakthrough
"It's a really good stepping stone and we need lots more and people just need to keep funding for research."
Last updated 15th May 2019
A heartbroken County Down mum whose young son died from incurable brain cancer has welcomed a potential new breakthrough in treatment.
Cassandra Finnegan from Waringstown, near Lurgan, lost her 13-year-old son Cameron in September last year.
Cameron was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour in January 2017.
Known as DIPG, the tumours are resistant to chemotherapy and cannot be operated on.
Children are usually given a year to live but scientists are currently working on a new drug that could extend patient's lives.
Cassandra told Downtown Cool FM the family's world fell apart the day her son was diagnosed:
"We've been living in hell every day since Cameron passed away.
"Our lives have been completely destroyed from the day we lost Cameron.
"Until the drugs are in trial and even if they work I know how many more kids are going to be lost and how many more mothers and fathers and families are going to lose their entire world."
Cameron was given nine months to live but bravely fought on for two years.
His family raised £300,000 and brought him to Mexico for an experimental clinical trial.
Cassandra said treatment breakthroughs and trials can be a slow process:
"This new drug, it's going to take about two years to get in a clinical trial so while it is good, they need to move things quicker for kids.
"Then you need to be accepted, there was even clinical trials that we wanted to enter and we were told no because we just didn't fit their boxes.
"It is a really good stepping stone and we need lots more and people just need to keep funding for research."
The new drug may be able to tackle the childhood brain cancer being developed by scientists.
It targets a unique mutation in tumours resistant to current treatment.
Professor Chris Jones from the Institute of Cancer Research says the treatment is in its early stages:
"We're hopeful from our lab models that it has the possibility of extending survival which we haven't really seen in this tumour type before.
"We need to do a lot more work simply because it is a very complex tumour."
Cassandra said every mother wants to find answers:
"I spent all of Cameron's diagnosis researching online morning, noon and night looking for something, for anything that would extend his life or cure him.
"You don't want to accept that because it doesn't seem feasible in your head that you could ever live without your child."