‘You saved my life,’ cancer patient tells £500k fundraisers

SHORTLY AFTER Sam Keen died from skin cancer, aged 27, in 2011, family and friends of the Borehamwood estate agent set themselves the target of raising £25,000 towards research at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Seven years on, the Sam Keen Foundation has raised £500,000 for the hospital, where Mr Keen was treated.

The landmark figure was reached with the £9,500 proceeds from a soldout quiz night at Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue.

Money from the foundation has sponsored two research fellows at the hospital, who work alongside oncologist Professor Martin Gore leading research into immunotherapy.

“Our results have been received very well,” said research fellow Dr Andrew Furness.

“And now we are looking into working out why it works well for a certain set of people and not others.

“The research looks into exploiting that knowledge and to try to expand the number of people who benefit. We are really deciphering cancer and the response to therapies in a much more intelligent manner.”

More than 200 people attended the quiz on Sunday night. They were shown an emotive video about the foundation’s work, including an interview with Caroline Piggott, a Royal Marsden patient who has benefited from immunotherapy.

“Please keep on doing what you’re doing,” she said. “You saved my life.”

Sara Kibel, Mr Keen’s sister, told the JC: “The sadness of not being able to share our day-to-day lives with Sam is immeasurable.”

But the work of the foundation had ensured his legacy.

“At the moment, through the research that is being funded, treatment success rate percentages are increasing. But we won’t stop fundraising until treatment rates progress to 100 per cent success.”

A Royal Marsden spokesperson thanked the foundation for funding “ground-breaking research into treating malignant melanoma with immunotherapy. Thanks to their incredible fundraising efforts we will be able to improve treatments for cancer patients globally.” Sam Keen’s widow Ali (second left) and sisters at the quiz night