LUKA

In early 2011, Luka Hemelaere passed away of a brain tumour at the age of sixteen, after courageously and patiently living with his disease for four years.

After his death, Ms Van Caeneghem set up the Luka Hemelaere Foundation to provide financial support for the scientific battle against brain tumours in children.

THE FOUNDATION

The Lux Luka Foundation - Lacrima ad Victoriam is what has emerged from a five-year struggle and the ensuing catharsis that Luka Hemelaere’s parents and sister experienced so intensely.

At Ghent University Hospital, confronted with the tragedy of countless children affected by brain tumours, they had numerous conversations with the doctors, professors and medical staff there and discovered just how many other families have to go down that long road. These experiences moved them so much that, from their own more fortunate position, they decided to do something for all of these children's well-being.

RESEARCH

Brain tumours have a number of characteristics setting them apart from other tumours, both in children and adults. After leukaemia, brain tumours are the most frequent type of cancer in children, whereas they are rare in adults. They rarely spread beyond the nervous system. Although a key factor is that the aggressive types are of course less favourable in outcome, their position in the brain, as well as the age at which they are diagnosed, often plays an important role in the prognosis too.