Charity backs study of rare cancer in boy's memory

A charity founded by a couple whose son died from a rare form of cancer is to co-fund the first major research into the strain of the disease in 40 years.

Ben Crowther, 7, died in 2019 from rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive cancer that affects children.

Pass the Smile for Ben, who lived in Coventry, is a special fund managed by Ben's parents, Scott and Sarah, for the Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG), to raise money to help other young patients with the condition.

Now, new research into the cancer will be conducted at the University of Southampton and funded by the CCLG and Cancer UK, following the last release of a drug to treat it in 1986.

According to Scott Crowther, it is the first major research into the strain that killed his son in decades and is long overdue.

"The treatments for it just haven't been funded and developed over the last 40 years," he said.

The new investigation will be led by Dr Matthew Blunt and his team in Southampton, following research with a potentially safer treatment called CAR-NK.

CAR-NK attaches chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) to natural killer (NK) immune cells, to boost the body's own ability to fight cancer.

It is understood the new cells can then detect previously hidden cancer cells and destroy them.

The research will investigate why the NK cells are not able to effectively fight rhabdomyosarcoma, with the findings used to develop treatments that will activate naturally present NK cells in children and to generate others from adult donors.

Crowther said this is what he and his wife set up the Pass the Smile for Ben fund for.

"Over the years, what we've come to do is work with other families through other charities so we pool our resources to fund more research. This is the seventh project we've had financial input in to.

"We're really excited about the possibilities."

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