Archie Goodburn, a 22-year-old Team GB swimmer diagnosed in 2024 with three inoperable low-grade oligodendrogliomas, appealed on BBC News for more clinical trials and a national brain cancer lead. The UK Prime Minister has agreed to meet Goodburn to discuss expanding trial access and research support. GlobalData reports 77 oligodendroglioma trials worldwide but only six include UK sites. Voranigo (vorasidenib) is currently the only UK-authorised targeted therapy for grade 2 oligodendroglioma with IDH mutations post-surgery.
UK Prime Minister Agrees To Meet Team GB Swimmer With Brain Cancer After Appeal For More Clinical Trials
Goodburn called upon the UK Prime Minister to increase the attractiveness of the UK for research. Credit: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock.com
The UK Prime Minister has agreed to meet Team GB swimmer Archie Goodburn after the 22-year-old made an emotional public plea for better access to clinical trials for brain cancer patients.
Goodburn, who was diagnosed in 2024 with three large, inoperable low-grade oligodendrogliomas, spoke live on BBC News on 4 August. He urged government action to expand research opportunities in the UK and called for a national brain cancer lead to coordinate efforts and improve patient access to trials.
"Please establish a national brain cancer lead and give us a chance to fight for our lives because the things that patients are going through out there are unbelievable and so unjust," Goodburn said. "There are clinical trials around the world, in the US, in Australia, in China, that could change lives. We are not seeing them in the UK, and it is unfair and unjust."
The Rare Cancers Bill, led by Scott Arthur MP, became law earlier this year. The legislation aims to incentivise research and private-sector investment into rare and less survivable cancers—defined in the bill as those affecting no more than one in 2,000 people.
Treatment Options And Trial Access
In the UK, Servier Pharmaceuticals' Voranigo (vorasidenib) is the only medicine currently authorised specifically for grade 2 oligodendroglioma with an IDH1 or IDH2 mutation in patients aged 12 and over following surgery. Standard chemotherapy approaches such as PCV (procarbazine, lomustine and vincristine) or single-agent temozolomide are also used in treatment plans.
Industry data from GlobalData's Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center indicate there are 77 planned and ongoing clinical trials for oligodendroglioma worldwide, but only six of those studies list sites in the UK. GlobalData is the parent company of Clinical Trials Arena, the original publisher of the story.
The planned meeting between Goodburn and the Prime Minister will focus on improving UK access to clinical trials and accelerating research for brain cancers that currently have limited treatment options.
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