Cancer treatment fund raises £500,000 for Royal Marsden Hospital in memory of Sam Keen

One of the research fellows, Dr Andrew Furness, said: “So far, our results have been received very well. And now what we are doing is, looking into working out why does it work well for a certain set of people, and not others?

“The research looks into exploiting that knowledge and to try expand the number of people that benefit. We are really deciphering cancer and the response to therapies in a much more intelligent manner.”

More than 200 people attended the magic-themed supper quiz on Sunday night at the shul where Mr Keen, an estate agent who got married just seven weeks before his death, was a member.

The attendees were shown a moving video about the foundation’s work, including an interview with Caroline Piggott, a Royal Marsden patient who has benefited from immunotherapy.

She said: “Please keep on doing what you’re doing; you saved my life.”

Mr Keen’s sister Sara Kibel told the JC: “Sam brought 230 people together for a magnificent sold-out evening. Everyone in the room felt privileged to fund a research team who are uniquely placed to be able to find a breakthrough.

“The sadness of not being able to share our day-to-day lives with Sam is immeasurable, but support like this from the community ensures Sam’s still with us.”

Buoyed by its success, the foundation has no plans to wind down and plans to keep fundraising.

Mrs Kibel said: “At the moment, through the research that is being funded, treatment success rate percentages are increasing, but we won’t stop fundraising until treatment rates progress to 100% success. A cure to malignant melanoma.”