Russell Brand's mother has breast cancer

The comedian has revealed his beloved mum Barbara is battling the disease after surviving a number of bouts during his childhood, including uterus cancer when Russell was eight and breast cancer a year later. 

According to The Daily Star newspaper, the funnyman, who is an only child, has cancelled his sold-out show at Derby's Assembly Rooms on Friday night to spend time with Barbara, who he is incredibly close to. 

He also pulled out of a show in Glasgow recently citing "family reasons" and told a fan on Twitter soon afterwards: "Me Mum ain't well (sic)."

Sorry to eff you around with gigs. My mum ain't well. Tix will be honoured or refunded. http://t.co/AD5yNic5cs

— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) March 6, 2014

Russell later spoke about her illness on his The Trews video blog, saying: "My mother has currently got breast cancer."

The 38-year-old star, who is seeking comfort from girlfriend Jemima Khan, also slammed the CoppaFeel! charity campaign, which encourages women to check their breasts for lumps. 

He said he cannot see how using topless models to raise awareness is helping victims like his mother. 

Russell said: "I don't feel that this is helping. The NHS, which is slowly being destroyed, that's quite useful. 

"The support groups she's attended that the NHS encouraged (are useful), but this, I don't know if it's doing my mum a lot of good (sic)."

Russell's mother brought him up on her own at their family home in Essex after his dad Ron left when he was six months old. 

Speaking about when she was first diagnosed, he said he was "too young, in fact, to properly comprehend what was happening, only old enough to sense the tingling presence of fear."

He also wrote about Barbara's battle with cancer in his first autobiography My Booky Wook and has spoken out about the disease on a number of occasions.