Many UK families facing glioblastoma find NHS treatments limited, pushing them to seek private care and crowdfund for advanced therapies. Read about a patient's battle with the disease and the urgent need for NHS options and public support. Visit https://gofund.me/c11576b0 today.
If you or someone you love has ever faced a cancer diagnosis, you know how quickly life can change. For families dealing with glioblastoma—the most aggressive form of brain tumour—those changes are often swift, overwhelming, and deeply unfair. In the UK, around 3,000 people are diagnosed with glioblastoma each year, and the standard NHS treatments, while essential, don't always offer the hope families are seeking. Glioblastoma progresses rapidly and is often resistant to conventional therapies. According to a 2025 population-based study, only 29% of patients in England receive the full combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, while 21% receive no treatment at all. The median survival time for those diagnosed is just 12 to 15 months, and for many, the options available through the NHS are limited by both funding and regulatory hurdles.
So, what's actually available to patients? If we look at the latest data from the NHS and organisations like Cancer Research UK, the main NHS-approved treatments for glioblastoma include surgery, where the primary goal is to remove as much of the tumour as safely possible to reduce symptoms and improve prognosis. Then there's radiotherapy, which uses high-energy radiation to destroy cancer cells and is typically given after surgery. It can help control tumour growth and extend survival. Chemotherapy, most commonly with a drug called temozolomide, is often given alongside or after radiotherapy and works by damaging the DNA of cancer cells.
But there are also advanced private treatments, and these are often not routinely available on the NHS due to cost, experimental status, or limited long-term data. Tumour-treating fields, or TTFields, use alternating electrical fields to disrupt cancer cell division. This involves wearing a device on the scalp and is sometimes used in combination with chemotherapy. Immunotherapy aims to boost the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. While promising, many immunotherapies for glioblastoma are still in clinical trials or are only available privately. Targeted molecular therapies are drugs that target specific genetic mutations or pathways found in cancer cells. Because glioblastoma is so complex and varied, identifying effective targets can be challenging, and many of these treatments are still under investigation. There’s also CAR T-cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy where a patient’s T-cells are genetically modified to recognise and attack cancer cells. This is a highly advanced and often experimental treatment for glioblastoma.
So, why are families turning to private treatment? While the NHS provides world-class care for many conditions, access to the latest glioblastoma treatments—like immunotherapy, tumour-treating fields, and targeted molecular therapies—is often restricted. These innovative approaches are typically available only through private clinics or clinical trials, which aren’t always accessible to the general public. For families desperate for more time or a better quality of life, this means looking beyond the NHS and, increasingly, turning to crowdfunding.
Let’s look at a personal story—one of hope against the odds. After her partner Raimondas was diagnosed with glioblastoma, Asta Pratapaviciene discovered a specialised private treatment that could target his specific cancer type—something not offered by the NHS. But with a price tag of £100,000, the only way forward was to launch a GoFundMe campaign titled, “You’re My Only Hope.” Asta says, “We built our life together after overcoming so much, and now we’re facing the biggest challenge yet. The treatment Raimondas needs is simply not available to us through public healthcare, and time is not on our side.”
Their story is not unique. Across the UK, families are increasingly relying on the generosity of strangers to access potentially life-extending treatments. The “You’re My Only Hope” campaign has already received support from over 160 donors, but much more is needed to reach their goal.
So, what can be done? Experts and patient advocates are calling for greater investment in NHS clinical trials and faster adoption of promising new therapies. Until then, families like Asta’s are left to navigate a system where hope is available—but only to those who can pay. If you want to make a difference for families facing glioblastoma, consider supporting campaigns like Asta and Raimondas’s GoFundMe. Every donation, no matter the size, brings them closer to the care they urgently need—and helps shine a light on the need for expanded treatment options for all. Asta Pratapaviciene City: Basildon Address: 28 Gilbert Drive Website: https://gofund.me/c11576b0 Email: asta72922@gmail.com