A HAMPSHIRE charity is helping to fund the largest ever brain tumour research in the country, marking a major milestone in the battle to save lives.

The Brain Tumour Charity is investing £5m into projects which aim to improve treatments and survival rates.

One of these projects is a study exploring the possibility of injecting brain tumour patients with a cancer-killing virus which destroys tumour cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

Another will see scientists use cutting-edge screening techniques to analyse the genetic make-up of childhood brain tumours.

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 in the UK, with more than 9,000 people – 25 every day – diagnosed every year with a primary brain tumour.

The Brain Tumour Charity, based in Farnborough, is funding £5m worth of the research programme costs, with a further £5m coming from others, including Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.