Labour MP remains 'determined' to find cure for 'savage' brain cancer that killed her sister
8 May 2025, 17:00
A Labour MP says she remains "as determined as ever to fight for a cure" to a "savage" brain cancer that killed her sister.
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Dame Siobhain McDonagh fought back tears as she recalled the experiences of her sister, Baroness Margaret McDonagh, who died aged 61 in June 2023.
Lady McDonagh, Labour's first female general secretary, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma - the most aggressive and fatal form of brain tumour - and received treatment in Germany.
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Dame Siobhain, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, told the Commons: "It was the only opponent my sister has never beaten but over that 18 months she gave it her very best shot.
"And standing here just six weeks before her second anniversary, I remain as determined as ever to fight for a cure to this savage cancer in the face of what can only be described as indifference from the NHS, the pharmaceutical industries, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Association and, I regret to say, most of the cancer charities.
"And in fighting this I believe we can find a path for the improvement in treatment of not just glioblastoma but all rare cancers.
"This will only happen if we as members of this House, if the cancer campaigners, the patients and the bereaved make it happen because the system currently conforms to Einstein's definition of madness - it continues to do the same thing expecting a different outcome.
"Don't get me wrong, it'd like to cure glioblastoma but it's just proving a bit difficult."
Dame Siobhain said the NHS "expects you just to lay down, take your fate and die" for people unable to fund their treatment overseas.
She added: "But just as I would not let Margaret lay down and die, we should not let anyone in the UK simply lay down and die from a glioblastoma."
The MP's proposals included early diagnosis and drug trials to help improve treatment and find a search for a cure.
