A charity set up by a couple who lost their son to a rare cancer is to co-fund the first major study in 40 years into the disease’s lineage.

Seven-year-old Ben Crowther died in 2019 from rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive form of 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 Leukemia Group (CCLG), which raises money to help other young patients.

Following the launch of the last treatment in 1986, new research into the cancer will now be carried out at the University of Southampton, with funding from CCLG and Cancer UK.

Scott Crowther said this was the first large-scale study of the strain that killed his son in decades and was long overdue.

“For the past 40 years, that treatment has not been funded or developed,” he says.

The new research will be led by Dr Matthew Brunt and his team in Southampton, following work on a safer treatment called CAR-NK.

CAR-NK binds chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to natural killer (NK) immune cells, increasing the body’s own ability to fight cancer.

“I’m really excited about the possibilities.”

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

The study investigated why NK cells are unable to effectively fight rhabdomyosarcoma, and the findings will be used to develop treatments that activate NK cells naturally present in children and generate other NK cells from adult donors.

Crowther said this is why he and his wife created the Pass the Smile for Ben foundation.

“What we have done over the years is work with other families through other charities and share resources to fund more research. This is the seventh project we have received funding.

“We’re really excited about the possibilities.”

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