Mum of young Scots girl with rare cancer in desperate appeal to fund US treatment

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The mum of an Edinburgh youngster with a rare cancer has launched a desperate appeal to fund specialist treatment in America after finding out her daughter's cancer had returned.Flora Gentleman, now five, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when she was just two in 2021.

The rare disease is an aggressive cancer with a 50 per cent chance of long-term survival.When she was first diagnosed, Flora underwent a year of treatment on the NHS and her family were told that she had no signs of active disease which meant she was eligible for a rare, New York-based vaccine trial, aimed at preventing relapses.The desperate family, along with their generous friends and local community came together and raised £305,000 to allow her to begin the potentially life-saving trial, reports Edinburgh Live.Flora, who has also been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and is currently non-verbal, flew with her family to New York three times, receiving six vaccines as part of the trial.However, in September 2023, a routine scan revealed that Flora had relapsed, requiring her to leave the trial and undergo further courses of NHS chemotherapy and immunotherapy at a children's hospital in Edinburgh.Mum Stephanie Kent, who has been sharing Flora's journey on social media, has now made a plea for donations to the family's fundraising campaign, in the hopes of getting Flora back on the vaccine trial and preventing further relapses.A total of £147,000 is still available from prior fundraising, but more funds will be needed to get Flora a place on the trial."We knew after getting the diagnosis and speaking with the consultants that it has a really high relapse rate," said Stephanie."We started looking at maintenance options in the States for once she