Check out the latest news about proton therapy: this week, find out how this state-of-the-art treatment modality is helping children with cancer fight against their life-threatening disease.  RAISING FUNDS FOR BODIE Bodie McNulty, a 2-year-old girl who needs proton therapy for her brain tumor, has been refused funding by the NHS. Her parents have launched a desperate appeal to fund the potentially life-saving treatment. Bodie started with symptoms of sickness and constant tiredness which rapidly progressed into her losing the ability to crawl, sit up or even support her own head. She was diagnosed with a cancerous ependymoma and cyst that filled a fifth of her skull in Christmas 2016 and since then underwent major brain surgery followed by 12 months of chemotherapy. The procedure removed much of the mass and her parents were preparing to travel to Florida for NHS-funded treatment for the small inoperable remainder left on her brain stem. Unfortunately, a recent MRI revealed that Bodie’s remaining tumor exceeds the size requirement for NHS treatment for proton therapy by just a few millimeters. Bodie’s parents said: “We are now faced with the agonizing choice of having to self-fund life-saving proton therapy, not currently available in the UK, or give her conventional photon radiotherapy, which can cause more long-term damage.” They are now desperately trying to raise £175,000 on JustGiving to fund proton treatment in Germany. Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5527771/Toddlers-tumour-EXCEEDS-size-requirement-NHS-funding.html   BRAVE EVIE SET FOR PIONEERING THERAPY Evie Hughes, a schoolgirl from Pen Llyn in the UK who received life-saving brain surgery last October, is preparing to fly to the USA to begin pioneering proton therapy. Evie has spent the last few months battling a brain tumor, which was discovered last year by her optician, and which has left her permanently blind in one eye. Soon after her diagnosis, she was rushed to the hospital where she underwent emergency surgery to drain a cyst surrounding the tumor and relieve pressure on her brain. After rounds of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, she will now travel to Jacksonville, Florida for pioneering proton therapy treatment. An online crowd-funding campaign was also set to help support the family during their stay in the US. Source: http://www.watoday.com.au/act-news/freyja-christiansen-due-home-to-canberra-on-thursday-after-australiafirst-surgery-to-remove-tumours-with-robots-20180314-h0xgio.html   MUSIC MASTER RUNS MARATHON Ashley Grote, the Master of Music at Norwich Cathedral, will be running the London Marathon in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, motivated by the ongoing treatment his daughter is receiving for a rare brain tumor. In June 2014, Ashley’s daughter Emily was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor known as a craniopharygioma. She underwent two long and difficult operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), followed by a 6-week course of Proton beam therapy in Jacksonville, Florida. Since then, she has had further surgery to improve blood flow in her brain after suffering from two strokes in March 2016. Thanks to the world-class treatment and outstanding care she has received at Great Ormond Street, she has made remarkable progress, overcoming each of these difficult hurdles with strength and determination. Ashley said, “As her parents, it doesn’t bear thinking about where we would be now without the treatment and support that Emily has had at GOSH, and we owe them a great debt of gratitude. Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity does such important work raising money which has helped our family and countless others.” Over the last 4 years, Ashley has raised over £56,ooo for the charity. https://www.networknorwich.co.uk/Articles/518033/Network_Norwich_and_Norfolk/People/Norwich_cathedral_music_master_runs_marathon.aspx