A police officer hopes to be the first Briton to test a pill which doctors believe could halt the spread of cancer.

David Robinson, a trainee police officer in Leicester city centre, hopes the experimental drug – currently known only as GDC-0449 – will extend his life with his family, including his new wife and baby.

David Robinson

The 29-year-old has four tumours – three on his brain and one on his spine. He was first diagnosed with cancer as a teenager but the disease has returned despite treatment. He is now planning to travel to the Duke Hospital, in North Carolina in September for treatment.

About 50 patients, most of them US citizens, are expected to take part in the tests. Three other US trials are also under way. The treatment is not available in the UK and there are no clinical trials on the horizon here.

Patients need a certain level of fitness, and David said he was currently feeling well enough.

Although the treatment is free, a £100,000 fund-raising campaign is under way to pay for the trip and hospital costs. The total is now edging towards £60,000.

Dr Sri Gururangan, who is running the trial at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumour Centre, said: "Patients from outside the US tend to be dependent on philanthropy and David is the first person from Britain to contact us.

"We have to ensure he is eligible and is prepared and able to stay here for long periods. I was delighted to hear our local police force is prepared to help him with accommodation.

"We will be delighted to have him here and, hopefully, help him.

"This is invariably a fatal disease. It comes and goes and comes and goes and then explodes and takes the life.

"We need to find a treatment and we hope these trials lead us to some answers. We're not trying to cure these patients. The aim is to bring the growth under control. We believe the drug can provide temporary remission."

The trial involves patients taking a tablet every day for a month and then undergoing four weeks of scans before the next course. In all, the trial will last for one year.

David, who has still to undergo about six weeks of chemotherapy in the UK, said he hoped to be ready to travel to America in September.

He and his wife, Almina, who married and had their first child last month, said they were overwhelmed by the generosity of David's police colleagues and complete strangers alike.

David said: "We're expecting it to take a year – one month of treatment, followed by a month off and then back again. I still have to have more chemotherapy here before I can speak to the people over there.

"The treatment in America still seems a long way down the line, but it's getting closer."

Colleagues at Mansfield House police station, in Belgrave Gate, Leicester, added a further £3,000 to the appeal on Thursday with an auction of sporting and celebrity memorabilia at Sumo bar in Braunstone Gate.

Sergeant Siobhan Gorman said: "We had a brilliant night and we raised a lot of money for the appeal and I think Dave was overwhelmed."

For condition updates and details of further fund-raising events, see the "help us help a friend" site on Facebook or David's website: