A little-known charity could change the way bowel cancer is treated around the world after donating £200,000 to research into cheaper drug treatment.
Bowel Disease UK has donated the money to St George's, University of London in Tooting to fund three years of continued research into the positive effects of using the cheaper drug within the NHS on selected patients who volunteer for the trial.
A pilot involving 26 bowel cancer patients already funded by the Wimbledon-based charity has found that none of those treated using the antimalarial drug artesunate developed further cancerous tissues.
Crohn's disease sufferer Gary Douch, 47, of Raynes Park, started Bowel Disease UK in 2006 after his consultant told him he would like to put him on a research programme but he needed to raise money to set it up.
Teamwork: Gary Douch was a patient of Professor Kumar at St George's Hospital when they agreed to work together to set up the research project
Mr Douch, who also owns construction company Charterbuild Construction Limited, said: "I suggested organising a raffle at my local rugby club to him and he said yes, but I thought he was joking.
"Then I realised he didn't have any money whatsoever so we started to talk about how we could fundraise."
Since 2007 the charity has gone on to raise almost £400,000 for research into bowel cancer, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
The latest research study at St George's began in June and is being led by Professor Devinder Kumar, who remains Mr Douch's consultant.
Mr Douch said: "Our expenses are less than £5,000 a year. We are a small charity which could potentially change how we treat bowel cancer in hospitals worldwide."
The charity is launching a crowdfunding campaign on September 22 to raise an additional £50,000 for the project to fund clinical testing, medical reporting and other administrative costs during the research.
Professor Kumar said: "If we are able to replicate the results of our pilot study I think it will make a significant impact on the treatment of bowel cancer as we know it."
Donate at Bowel Disease UK's JustGiving Page.
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