Dad's plea to Europe after daughter dies of brain tumour (From Daily Echo)

Dad's plea to Europe after daughter dies of brain tumour

9:56am Monday 6th February 2012 in News

A HAMPSHIRE dad is flying to the European Parliament today to highlight the need for brain tumours in young people to be diagnosed more quickly.

Mike Cashen, of Dibden Purlieu, said doctors took eight months to diagnose the tumour that killed his daughter Samantha, who died aged 17 last August.

Samantha, a pupil at Priestlands School in Lymington, would have been 18 today.

Mr Cashen complained that people her age were not allowed to take part in clinical trials of drugs that could save or prolong their lives.

He is a keen supporter of HeadSmart, which has launched a campaign to reduce the time it takes to diagnose brain tumours in children and young people.

A spokesman said: "Children in the UK with a brain tumour may take up to three times longer to be diagnosed than children in other countries such as the United States.

"Reducing the time to diagnosis should reduce the long-term disability that many children and young people with a brain tumour currently experience."