Commonwealth Games swimmer Archie Goodburn has made a passionate plea to prime minister Andy Burnham to increase funding for brain cancer research, saying, “give us a chance to fight for our lives”.
The 25-year-old was diagnosed with inoperable brain tumours two years ago and has since used his platform to call for greater focus on treating the disease.
Brain cancer is the most deadly cancer for children and adults under 40, while it has only received 1% of the government’s cancer research budget in the last 24 years.
Goodburn reached the 50m breaststroke final at last week’s Commonwealth Games and was one of the stars of the event, eloquently speaking about his experience with cancer in wide-reaching interviews.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, the Scot was in tears as he directly addressed the prime minister. He said: “Andy Burnham, if you believe and want to make a change and a difference to the future of our country and our young population, please listen to us.
“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.
“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.
“Please invest and make the difference. I’m on my knees begging for – not just my own life – but for those of my best friends and those that are affected and the families around the country.”
Goodburn suggested that although the Rare Cancers Bill, which became law earlier this year and which aims to increase research into several rare types of the disease, is a “step in the right direction”, it does not go far enough.
He said: “The Rare Cancers Bill establishes two new positions: a clinical lead and a research lead. These two roles are part-time across 14 different types of cancers and they accumulate to 36 days a year.
“There’s two roles to cover 14 different types of cancer and change the landscape of treatment. I do not see how 36 days a year is going to make that change for 14 different types of cancers, let alone the most deadly type of cancer.”
Goodburn was 22 when he began experiencing strange physical symptoms during training including intense nausea and numbness on his left side.
He narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics in April 2024 and was diagnosed shortly after with three oligodendrogliomas, rare tumours which account for around 3% of all brain cancer diagnoses.
A successful trial of a new treatment drug, Vorasidenib, allowed Goodburn to compete at the highest level again at his home Commonwealth Games. But progress in research and in taking that research into clinical trials has been slow, and Goodburn has been instrumental in campaigning, alongside his training, for the government to do more to tackle the disease.
Goodburn added on BBC Breakfast: “This has to change. It’s been going for too long and the suffering is unbearable.”
Speaking after the Games, the Scot said: “To see the support off the back of those interviews has been really, really touching and inspiring. In that moment I was speaking about what felt important to me and the crowd were very supportive of my journey, and it only felt right to address that when I got out the pool.
“What I do in the pool is only possible because of the medical advances that have been made and the campaign that’s been done by the whole community. It was really a chance to give back and make sure that momentum keeps going.”
