Researchers have discovered a potential treatment for a deadly cancer thanks to funding from a trust fund established in the name of a campaigning Armley woman.
* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from Armley Today.The June Hancock Mesothelioma Trust Fund was set up in the name of the brave Armley woman who campaigned against a multi-national company after contracting the cancer.
* Click here to become a fan of Armley Today on Facebook.Mrs Hanock lived in the shadow of the JW Roberts fasbestos actory in Armley.
Like her mother and hundreds of others who worked in or lived near the factory, she contracted mesothelioma, an incurable asbestos-linked cancer of the lung whuch usually kills within 12 to 18 months of diagnosis.
Mrs Hancock took legal action against the firm's owners, Turner Newall.
Despite deliberate delays by the company she survived long enough to win a groundbreaking compensation claim, opening the doors to compensation for thousands of others. She died in 1997.
The trust fund established in her name has raised £600,000.
The trustees, who include Mrs Hancock's daughter Kimberley Stubbs, awarded a three-year grant of £138,000 for research in the Department of Oncology at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff. This is being led by Suzanna Tarbi, senior lecturer in immunology.
She said: "We have found a molecule associatied with mesothelioma. The aim of further research will be to vaccinate patients. That means their immune system would be boosted. The vaccine will help boost the immune system to attack the tumour."
