Sussex brain tumour service wins national excellence status
A Brighton brain tumour patient has welcomed national recognition for the hospital that has treated him since his diagnosis, saying the award offers a measure of hope in a disease where recurrence remains a constant threat. Matthew White, a father of two from Brighton, was diagnosed with an incurable astrocytoma in 2023 after experiencing seizures while playing football. Three years on, his tumour is currently stable. Stability, though, is not the same as cure, and the difference shapes every discussion in brain oncology: the disease can remain quiet for a period, then return and force another round of treatment decisions, imaging, and uncertainty.
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust has now been awarded Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence status for the care, treatment, and research delivered through its brain tumour services. The designation is limited to six neuro-oncology centres nationwide this year, placing the Royal Sussex County Hospital within a small group judged to meet the highest standards for NHS brain tumour treatment, care, and research. For patients, the label is more than ceremonial. It signals access to specialist multidisciplinary expertise, tighter coordination between clinicians, and a service built to move patients into research pathways when suitable studies exist.
White said the recognition mattered because it points toward “better access to trials, better access to treatments.” For people living with high-grade or infiltrative brain tumours, that possibility carries unusual weight. Conventional therapy can slow disease, but recurrent gliomas and astrocytomas often return because microscopic tumor cells infiltrate brain tissue beyond the visible lesion on imaging. The value of an excellence centre lies in bringing together surgical, oncological, imaging, and research expertise around that biology, so that care does not end when standard options narrow.
Hope is the only emotion stronger than fear.
That line, from White, captures the emotional arithmetic of living with an incurable brain tumour. Fear tracks with every scan, every seizure, every new symptom. Hope persists because science continues to move, even when the disease itself cannot be cured. White said he has to hope that “someone out there is working hard to find something that can help,” a sentiment that reflects why clinical trial access matters so much in neuro-oncology. The next treatment may not yet be on the ward; it may be buried in a protocol, waiting for patients who can be matched to it.
Multidisciplinary care and research access drive the award
Dr Cressida Lorimer, consultant clinical oncologist, said the trust was delighted to receive the recognition and described it as a reflection of the expertise, compassion, and dedication of its multidisciplinary teams. In practical terms, that means the service is not functioning as a single clinic or a single specialty. Brain tumour care depends on coordinated input from oncologists, neurosurgeons, radiologists, specialist nurses, and other clinicians who can interpret symptoms, scans, pathology, and functional status together. For a tumour type that can affect speech, movement, cognition, and personality as well as survival, that kind of coordination is essential.
The trust said the designation should also create future opportunities for Sussex patients to take part in clinical trials of new treatments that might otherwise not be available locally. In neuro-oncology, this is often the most meaningful part of centre recognition. Trial access can bring patients into studies evaluating novel drugs, delivery methods, or care pathways before they are widely adopted. It also concentrates experience in patient selection and monitoring, which matters because the toxicities of brain tumour therapy can be hard to separate from the disease itself. Weakness, fatigue, headaches, seizures, and cognitive changes may stem from tumour progression, treatment effects, or both.
Nicky Huskens, chief executive of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, described the award as evidence of the hard work of an incredible team working above and beyond to deliver a world-class brain tumour service. The language may be ceremonial, but the underlying issue is stark: patients with brain tumours still face limited treatment options compared with many other cancers. Every centre that improves access to specialist care, trial recruitment, and structured follow-up can change the practical course of a patient’s illness, even when the underlying diagnosis remains serious.
For White, the recognition comes with personal resonance. He has already lived through the abrupt shift from an ordinary activity to a life-altering diagnosis, and now lives with the knowledge that “stable” means only that the tumour is not currently progressing. The award does not alter that biology. It does, however, increase the odds that when change comes, the local service will be connected to the latest research and to clinicians who know how to use it. In a disease where recurrence is expected rather than merely possible, that is the part of care that can matter most.