ROGER’S CANCER IN REMISSION THANKS TO ‘WONDER DRUG’ TRIAL
Treatment will come into wider NHS use
A COLLEGE lecturer who trialled a new wonder drug for blood cancer is now in remission and looking forward to precious time with his family.
Roger Sharman, from Clayton, is one of more than 100 patients at Royal Stoke University Hospital and Stafford’s County Hospital to sign up for the ‘myeloma XI’ trial.
It has involved taking lenalidomide, which has been shown to double the length of time people spend in remission and improve their overall survival rate.
Now, on the back of the success, it has been approved by NICE for wider NHS use with patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
Roger can still recall the shock of finding out he had cancer six years ago. The 59-year-old said: “At first, we were really worried and were thinking about all the worst case scenarios. But then I was given the chance to take part in the trial.
“It seemed the best way to go and I felt I had nothing to lose, so I just went for it.
“Before I started on lenalidomide, I had intensive treatment to target the myeloma and this caused me difficulties with breathing. Myeloma also affects your blood levels and reduces haemoglobin, so I had no energy.
“The lenalidomide maintenance therapy helped to keep me in a stable condition. I’ve been on it for five years now and have completed 60 cycles.”
Roger and his wife Bev are looking forward to enjoying weekends away and seeing their family once covid restrictions are lifted.
University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) NHS Trust joined the clinical trial in 2011 and
has recruited the largest number of participants nationally. Now the drug could extend many more lives.
Every year, around 5,800 people in Britain are diagnosed with myeloma. The disease affects the production of plasma cells in the bone marrow and also the body’s immune system.
Dr Kamaraj Karunanithi, director of research and innovation at UHNM, said: “While myeloma cannot be cured, there is so much research continuing to happen in this area, particularly in relation to the advent of new drugs.
“By participating in clinical trials, people have the opportunity to receive these treatments early and many did in this clinical trial. More than that, it paves the way for future change in the standard of care for people suffering with incurable cancer.”
Retired commercial director Malcolm Scovell also took part in the lenalidomide trial and is now in remission. He first became ill in 2014 and was taken to hospital on Christmas Eve.
The 63-year-old, from Nantwich,
recalled: “I had just been speaking at our annual sales conference. The next day, I felt terrible. And within days, I was taken to hospital.
“I ended up in intensive care on a ventilator, suffering from numerous infections. When I woke up, they told me I had myeloma.”
He has been on lenalidomide for six years.
Malcolm added: “To see it become the gold standard treatment for this condition and be available to help others is fantastic. Knowing I had a share in that makes me feel good.”