We’re thrilled to announce a new fundraising collaboration between Brain Research UK and The King of Chemo.
Iain, better known as The King of Chemo, signed up for a medical trial in 2019 as a way to earn some extra cash. Instead of completing the trial, he was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, an aggressive and invasive brain tumour that grows rapidly and infiltrates surrounding brain tissue.
Since his diagnosis, Iain has set out to break the world record for raising the most money ever for charity without asking for individual donations, but by building a powerful online community and donating brand partnership fees to the cause.
Over the next two weeks, for every new subscriber to The King of Chemo’s YouTube channel a £2 donation will be made to Brain Research UK (up to £20K),
generously funded by an anonymous sponsor.
This simple action will fund vital research into neurological conditions, helping to improve our understanding of brain tumours, how they develop, and how we can better diagnose and treat them.
This is Ian's announcement on Instagram:
We are incredibly grateful to Iain and his community for supporting Brain Research UK in such a meaningful way. Every subscription will help drive progress for people affected by neurological conditions and help them live better, longer.
Subscribe to The King of Chemo’s YouTube channel now
Glioblastoma is an aggressive, invasive brain tumour. It grows and spreads quickly and infiltrates the brain. Despite many years of research, the treatments developed in the laboratory have failed to improve patient outcomes and glioblastoma remains incurable.
The current treatment strategy includes surgery to ‘debulk’ the tumour, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy to destroy remaining tumour. This prolongs survival but is not curative - the tumour always grows back. Only a quarter of patients survive more than a year from diagnosis, and just 5% survive five years.
Since 2017, thanks to our incredible supporters, we have invested £4.6 million in vital research that is helping us to understand brain tumours, how they develop, and how we can better diagnose and treat them.
We funded vital research led by Dr Natividad Gomez-Roman at the University of Strathclyde, that is exploring a new treatment approach targeting cholesterol in glioblastoma cells. By combining this approach with standard care, the hope is that patient survival will be improved. In this field where treatment options have remained static for two decades, this work is critically important.
