Jaimee-Louise Sharp, 28, is seeking roughly $435,000 to travel from England to Columbus, Ohio, for possible participation in a clinical trial for an aggressive brain tumor. Sharp was diagnosed with an IDH1-mutant grade 4 astrocytoma after an extreme headache and episodes of confusion. She is nearing the end of six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy after surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, but she has not yet been formally accepted into the trial.
Sharp is the partner of Mason Gascoigne, son of former England soccer player Paul Gascoigne, according to NBC4. Sharp and Mason have a five-year-old son, Teddy. The family says Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus has a potential opening that fits Sharp’s diagnosis and treatment schedule, but she has not yet been formally enrolled in TarGeT-D.
Sharp’s sister, Brooke Sharp, contacted doctors and clinical-trial programs in the United Kingdom and elsewhere while searching for treatment options. Researchers later reviewed Sharp’s medical records, according to the NBC4 report.
What the TarGeT-D Trial Is Testing
TarGeT-D is studying olutasidenib in patients with high-grade gliomas carrying the IDH1 mutation. Researchers are examining whether adding the drug to temozolomide after radiation can delay cancer progression longer than standard treatment alone. Nationwide Children’s Hospital publicly lists the Phase 2 study as recruiting, the station reported.
What is known about eligibility and trial-related expenses
According to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, TarGeT-D is designed to evaluate olutasidenib in newly diagnosed pediatric and young adult patients with IDH1-mutant high-grade glioma. The hospital lists patients ages 12 through 39 at enrollment on TarGeT-SCR among those who may be eligible, subject to the study’s other requirements; that potential eligibility does not establish that Sharp has been accepted. Clinical-trial participation can also create costs beyond the treatment itself. According to the National Cancer Institute, participants may face expenses for travel, lodging, meals, parking and child care or elder care, although some studies may help cover those costs.
Earlier research on olutasidenib involved a different patient population from the newly diagnosed patients described for TarGeT-D. A 2022 study described by news.med.miami.edu examined the drug in 26 adults with recurrent gliomas carrying an IDH1 R132X mutation. Eight patients, or 32%, had stable disease for at least four months. The report said the drug helped control or stabilize disease in nearly half of the heavily pretreated patients and was well tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities reported. Those findings came from patients with relapsed or refractory disease, not the newly diagnosed population TarGeT-D is examining, according to the study described on pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
The Cost of Crossing the Atlantic for Treatment
Sharp’s fundraiser says the study drug would be provided at no cost, while required scans, blood tests and other monitoring in the United States would not be covered. Her family said Nationwide Children’s estimated those associated medical costs at about $231,624, payable 21 days before treatment could begin, according to NBC4.
The broader fundraising goal of £320,516, or roughly $435,000, is intended to cover repeated travel, lodging, insurance and other expenses tied to the trial. The family says Sharp would initially spend about two weeks in Columbus, then return roughly once a month for two years if she is admitted. They also say the study drug would need to begin alongside the next phase of her chemotherapy.
Hope Amid an Uncertain Timeline
As of the Monday before NBC4’s report, Sharp’s GoFundMe had raised more than £210,000 from more than 8,000 donations. “I felt hope,” Sharp told NBC4. “I felt that this was meant to be.”
Sharp has said she hopes to remain Teddy’s mother and that participation could help other people facing the same diagnosis. A Nationwide Children’s Hospital spokesperson told NBC4 the hospital was looking into the matter and had no further information to release at the time.
