Burnham met Goodburn at Downing Street after the 25-year-old athlete, diagnosed with three inoperable brain tumours two years ago, made a tearful plea for more funding. Goodburn, who reached the final of the 50m breaststroke at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, began medical tests after experiencing numbness and seizures while training for the 2024 Olympic trials. He was diagnosed with three large oligodendrogliomas, a rare type of cancer that can affect the brain and spinal cord. He underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but surgery to remove the tumours was found to be impossible.
After the meeting, Burnham announced a new national brain cancer clinical lead and promised a review of brain cancer progress and action to get patients treatment sooner. The review will be led by Professor Anthony Chalmers, chairman of clinical oncology at the University of Glasgow, and will assess what progress has been made in the sector since 2018. It aims to highlight what is still holding progress back.
Downing Street said the review will be followed by a national cancer plan with a view to getting new treatments out of the lab and to patients faster. The prime minister has also asked the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to conclude its review of the rules for medicines that treat rare conditions sooner, in two years rather than three. Patients, families and charities will help design a drive to get more people onto clinical trials.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast earlier this year, Goodburn described how trials around the world are not being seen in the UK, which he called unfair and unjust. After meeting the prime minister, Goodburn thanked him and said all three of his requests have been promised to some extent, though details still need to be fleshed out.
Burnham described Goodburn as an inspiration to us all and said: "He has spoken passionately about the need for change on brain cancer, and he's right: progress hasn't been good enough, here or anywhere else. Families facing this disease can't afford to wait."