A former student at the University of Edinburgh met the Prime Minister yesterday to discuss plans to improve brain cancer treatment in the UK.
Archie Goodburn, who graduated in 2025, made an appeal to Andy Burnham on live television earlier this year, asking to meet with him.
Diagnosed with three brain tumours two years ago, Goodburn swam for Scotland at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where he reached the final of the 50m breaststroke.
Goodburn said “all three of the asks have been promised:” a national leadership for brain cancer tumours, “a framework to close the transitional gap,” and to encourage pharmaceuticals and burgeoning companies to use the UK as a “global test bed.”
A new national cancer project will be set up to move new forms of treatment “out of the lab and to patients faster,” the Prime Minister said.
“I don’t think I could ask for much more at this point so I sent a very strong thanks to Andy Burnham for his time,” he commented after meeting the Prime Minister in Downing Street.
However, he did say there needed to be a “fleshing out” of details.
The Health Secretary, Yvette Cooper, was also present at the meeting; she is expected to head a project for patients, charities, and families to ensure more people can access clinical trials.
The Prime Minister said he was “delighted” to meet Goodburn, saying he was “an inspiration to us all.”
“He has spoken passionately about the need for change on brain cancer, and he’s right: progress hasn’t been good enough, here or anywhere else,” Burnham added.
Goodburn was diagnosed with three large oligodendrogliomas affecting the spinal cord and the brain; however, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery was not able to treat them effectively enough.
Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney, who has also met the Edinburgh graduate, said: “We will give careful consideration to any further role which Scotland could play to give people living with brain cancer a faster route from research to treatment.”
Other public figures have also commented on the recent meeting. Dan Knowles — chief executive of Charity Brain Tumour Research — praised Goodburn’s “tireless efforts” in his campaign for better services for those with brain cancer.
“We are optimistic that this renewed focus will help ensure discoveries in the laboratory actually make it to patients who so desperately need more options,” he added.
The Rare Cancers Bill — put forward by Edinburgh South West MP Scott Arthur — was made into law this year, which hopes to increase research into rare forms of cancer.
Arthur commented following yesterday’s meeting: “I hope his meeting with the prime minister is a moment for concrete progress to be made.”
Photo by Rui Chamberlain on Unsplash.
