Ben Rossington

After fighting countless battles on the pitch, Sir Alex Ferguson has helped fund the biggest battle for mankind.

The retired Manchester United boss was a secret backer of research for a drug labelled as the “potentially the biggest cancer breakthrough in decades”, according to reports.

Fergie, 72, lost both parents to lung cancer and is the face of a £30m Scottish government campaign aimed at early detection of the disease.

Now enjoying his retirement after 26 years in charge at Old Trafford, the Scot coughed up £250,000 to help a London professor in his war against cancer after a chance meeting in a bar.

Professor Agamemnon Epenetos unveiled his work to the scientific world last month and showed how his protein, code named TR4, acts as a “Trojan horse” to enter the nucleus of a cancerous stem cell, causing it to shut down and to die.

His research was funded by grants and small individual investors and if successful could change the lives of millions of Brits.

Professor Lucio Miele of the University of Mississippi Cancer Institute in the US, said: “Cancer stem cells are a new frontier in cancer research. In order to eradicate cancer, we have to eradicate cancer stem cells.

“Drugs against cancer stem cells, like Trojantec’s TR4, are potentially one of the biggest cancer breakthroughs in a decade.”

The research is now looking to go to clinical trials.

Sir Alex lost both his dad Alexander at 66 in 1979 and his mum Elizabeth, 64, in 1986, to lung cancer.

He agreed to front the Detect Cancer Early campaign because of his own heartbreak and to get the message out that early detection can give people “extra time” to spend with their family.

Launching the campaign, Ferguson said: “I remember being told my parents had lung cancer. It’s one of the scariest things you’ll ever hear.

“But things are different now. These days, it doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Finding it early could save your life and give you extra time to spend with your family.”

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