Brave cancer sufferer Ann Rose is set to boost research into the disease by donating £80,000 cash.

Ann, who has terminal breast cancer, has ignored her own plight to found the Monte Cancer Challenge.

From her home in Third Avenue, Hove, she has led a team which has raised more than £200,000 for cancer research.

Last year the team raised £80,000 with a series of events, including fashion shows, a greyhound evening and a charity ball.

Her husband Tony helped boost funds by taking part in the Monte Carlo Rally.

He is due to set off in his classic MG sports car to take part in the rally again on January 27.

Ann, who has been battling against cancer for 12 years, was forced to cancel a Christmas holiday with her family in Madeira after her condition deteriorated.

The cancer has spread to her spinal cord and she is due to return to the Royal Marsden Hospital in Surrey for further scans this week.

The money raised by the Monte Challenge team is given to the Institute of Cancer Research which is linked to the Royal Marsden. Some of the world's leading cancer experts carry out cutting-edge research at the institute.

Their work is then carried out on volunteer patients at the Royal Marsden in a bid to find the cause of different forms of cancer.

Ann said: "All of the money we raise goes to cancer research and treatment.

"Next month we will give nearly £80,000 to the institute to spend on equipment.

"Of that, £17,500 will be used to buy a mammotome biopsy driver for breast-cancer care.

"It is used with a prone biopsy table which is helping to make cancer detection and treatment less traumatic.

"It enables a patient to stay in one place and allows all the pieces of equipment needed to be connected to the table.

Grease "That saves someone having to be wheeled in and out of operating theatres or between departments.

"All the equipment we provide will bear the Monte Challenge name."

The team's next fund-raiser is a celebrity performance of the hit musical Grease at the Theatre Royal, Brighton on February 27.

It stars London's Burning and Bugs actor, Stephen Houghton, and features hits made famous in the Grease film.

Call 01273 725323.