Terminally-ill boy in Mexico for treatment of rare brain tumour

● Seven-year-old Luke receiving new treatment in hope it prolongs his life

The family of a terminally-ill seven-year-old boy are in Mexico where he is receiving a new form of treatment in the hope it will prolong his life.

Jennifer Ure Stewart and her husband Mark travelled to the Monterrey Vale Oriente hospital with their three young boys, including eldest child Luke, who is suffering from a rare aggressive brain tumour.

The family, from Tranent, East Lothian, are hoping a course of Intra-arterial (IA) chemotherapy treatment will stop the cancer from growing and give Luke more time with them and his two brothers Lewis, aged five and 18-monthold Lochlin.

A “Help Luke” page on Justgiving set up just four months ago has now raised £163,000 thanks to the efforts of the local community in East Lothian. The Stewarts have been in Mexico since 2 May and will be staying for an initial seven weeks while Luke receives treatment.

The brave youngster has already completed the first stage of his treatment, which involved a MRI scan, to let doctors determine the type and quantity of drugs to administer directly into the tumour.

Then he underwent a procedure where they inserted the drugs through the basilar

0 Luke Stewart with his brothers Lewis and Lochlin at Monterrey Vale Oriente hospital in Mexico artery which goes directly into the brain stem. Ms Stewart, who works for RBS, said she hopes the treatment will give the family more time together.

She said: “The simple answer is we just don’t know. We hope and pray this could be the cure and the treatment will continue to kill those cancer cells. But any extra time be it days, weeks, months or years with Luke means this is working.

“Due to the treatment being so new, the medical professionals don’t have enough statistics to say how long it gives a child or if it’s curable.” Luke was diagnosed with the Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Giloma (DIPG) tumour in January – according to the Brain Tumour Charity only around 10 per cent of children with DIPG survive longer than two years after diagnosis.

Ms Stewart added: “We feel truly lucky to be here in Mexico and believe 100 per cent in this treatment, we need to continue with it for as long as it’s required.”