A patient given 18 months to live has been left with no trace of the disease after being one of the first in the world to test a new wonder drug .
Bob Berry is one of just three people to take part in the trial at the hospital – and one of just 12 across the globe.
Scans revealed a shadow on his lungs, and he was referred to hospital where he was dealt the devastating news that he had lung cancer.
Bob, from Hazel Grove in Stockport, underwent surgery to remove the tumour, but it was too late – the disease was growing and had already spread to his lymphnodes.
He was referred to The Christie, one of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe, for treatment and soon began a gruelling course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
But it was unsuccessful.
Bob wasn’t responding to the drugs, and doctors told him he had around a year-and-a-half left to live.
They decided to transfer him to the hospital’s clinical trials unit, and 12 months ago Bob became one of the first people ever to be treated with the brand new drug, which can’t yet be named.
It is the first time it has been tested on humans, with the study taking place at only six centres worldwide.
It combines the drug with an immunotherapy treatment with the intention to make it more effective.
Immunotherapy treatments harness and enhance the innate powers of the immune system to fight cancer.
Bob’s consultant at The Christie, Dr Matthew Krebs, said: “Bob has had a phenomenal response to
taking part in this clinical trial .
His most recent scans show that he’s had a complete response with no apparent trace of tumour in his body.
“We will need to monitor Bob closely with regular scans to assess how durable this response will be.
“As it is a combined study with a brand new drug, we still have a lot of further research to do before we can establish how these findings can help more patients like Bob in the future as cancer is a complex disease and not every patient responds as well as this.”
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