Tragic MP’s legacy for brain patients

THOUSANDS of brain cancer patients will benefit from a groundbreaking ‘pink drink’ test thanks to campaigning by Dame Tessa Jowell who died from the disease.

The former Labour minister, who died a year ago today, spent the final months of her life urging the Government to fund new treatments for brain tumours.

Last year ministers set up a dedicated research fund in her name and doubled spending on brain cancer to £40million. They have now honoured another of her wishes – for a diagnostic test to be made available nationwide.

The 5-ALA treatment involves patients taking a pink drink before surgery. It uses fluorescent dye and ultraviolet light to make cancerous cells glow under UV light. This means surgeons can accurately identify areas of the brain affected by cancer. It will be available in all of NHS England’s brain cancer centres from today, transforming the care of 2,000 patients every year.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock called it ‘a fitting testament to Tessa’s memory’. Each year, 11,400 Britons are diagnosed with brain tumours, which now kill more adults than breast cancer.