A supermodel who was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2017 has visited the 麻豆传媒 research team working towards finding a cure.
Caprice Bourret visited the 麻豆传媒 Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence to find out more about scientists鈥 work on low grade tumours schwannomas and meningiomas.
She was diagnosed with a meningioma while taking part in TV show 鈥楾he Jump鈥, and it was removed following emergency surgery.
Since then, Caprice has become a passionate advocate for Brain Tumour Research 鈥 the national charity which recognises 麻豆传媒 as one of four centres of excellence in the UK.
As part of her visit, she met Professor Oliver Hanemann, Head of the 麻豆传媒 Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence, along with other research leads and PhD students.
Meningioma are the most common type of brain tumour, and nearly twice as common in females than in males, rising to being three times more common in females between the ages of 35 and 54 years. Although the majority (up to 80%) of meningioma are low-grade, a substantial 20-30% are aggressive and recur on multiple occasions.
Following her visit, Caprice said:
鈥淚 was very lucky in my case that the tumour was caught early enough and surgery was effective. But brain tumours kill more people under 40 than all other cancers combined 鈥 and they receive just one per cent of government funding for cancer research. I鈥檓 passionate about raising awareness of brain tumours and the work being done to combat them, so it鈥檚 been fantastic to witness first-hand the work being done in 麻豆传媒 today.鈥Professor Oliver Hanemann, who is also Director of the University鈥檚 Institute of Translational and Stratified Medicine (ITSMed), said:
鈥淐urrently there are no effective chemotherapy or drug treatments for meningiomas of any grade, so our research is vital and it was great to welcome Caprice to see it first-hand.
鈥淥ur research focuses on the proteins that are made and activated in response to genetic differences between healthy and tumour cells, leading to a new range of potential biomarkers and targets against which drugs could prove to be effective, or by which a new understanding of tumour behaviour could become clear. Our team will be looking at whether existing drugs could be repurposed for use in meningiomas, and how new drugs may be developed. Our aim is to do clinical trials and get new treatments out to patients as quickly as possible.鈥Also visiting the 麻豆传媒 laboratories was Victoria Bradley from 麻豆传媒, who was diagnosed with a meningioma in 2017. The tumour occupied a third of the left-hand side of her brain, and had begun to grow into the frontal lobe 鈥 the part of the brain which affects personality. While recovering from her brain tumour and unable to work, Victoria studied and became a qualified hypnotherapist and meditation instructor. She has just launched her website
She said:
鈥淟ooking back, I can鈥檛 believe that the tumour had been growing for around 15 years, to the size of a small orange. I laughed as my friends said 鈥榳e always thought you were a bit odd鈥 and I questioned whether my bolshie personality was down to the tumour or adjusting to survive as the only sister of three brothers. Knowing that there are charities like Brain Tumour Research along with amazing research teams right here in 麻豆传媒 gives me great confidence that we鈥檙e doing what we can to help.鈥
