This week is Brain Cancer Action Week and many in the Illawarra community have been registering for a major annual fundraising event on the Wollongong foreshore.
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Planning is well under way for The Blue Mile Dash which aims to increase awareness and help fund brain cancer research.
The week started with Gold Logie winner Carrie Bickmore encouraging people to wear a beanie and upload it on social media on Monday, after she dedicated her award to her husband Greg Lange, who died of brain cancer in 2010.
And it continued on Tuesday with the announcement an appeal would be held soon for Wollongong musician Graham Wilson who is in Wollongong Hospital undergoing chemotherapy after having a brain tumour removed by Dr Charlie Teo in Sydney last month.
Details will soon be released about a fundraiser for Mr Wilson, but in the meantime many people and businesses are helping support research into one of the least funded cancers by registering teams of four people in the Blue Mile Dash on June 19.
The dash is a one mile (1.6 kilometres) run along Wollongong's scenic Blue Mile.
The event has raised more than $30,000 for research into brain cancer since it was initiated in 2013 by the Cancer Council NSW.
This year it is supported by RMB Lawyers in partnership with Peoplecare, Destination Wollongong, Savvy Fitness and Illawarra Rotary.
In 2015, the Cancer Council NSW wants to use funds raised to support a research project into treating brain cancer more effectively. It is being conducted by Dr Kerrie McDonald at the University of NSW.
It follows the arrival of a new treatment for brain cancer that seems to work in only some patients. Even those who do respond quickly become resistant.
Dr McDonald is hoping her study will help her understand why this happens and improve the treatment. Terry Deegan, of the Cancer Council, said brain cancer killed more children than any other disease and more people under 40 than any other cancer.
During the last five years the Cancer Council has funded more than $7.5 million in brain cancer research in NSW.
Illawarra businesses can help it do more by registering Blue Mile Dash teams online at www.bluemiledash.com.au or by calling 4223 0200.
