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Radical immunotherapy treatment could lead to half of advanced sufferers making a full recovery and kick off a whole new era in fighting the illness.
Prof Johnson, Doctor examining woman with melanoma skin cancerNew hope: Prof Johnson says the drugs could usher in a new era for conditions like melanoma
Patients who were dying from cancer are being cured thanks to ground-breaking drugs which transform their bodies into weapons against the disease.
In the “spectacular” results of one clinical trial, patients with just months to live had tumours wiped out by immunotherapy.
And it is thought the breakthrough drugs could lead to more than half of advanced cancer sufferers making a full recovery.
Immunotherapy, which turns the immune system into a cancer-fighting device, has been hailed as a “pillar” in fighting tumours, particularly skin cancer.
New York cancer specialist Dr Michael Postow said the treatment “ranks alongside targeted therapies and chemotherapy”.
Speaking at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting, he added: “It’s another pillar of treatment here to stay.”
And Prof Peter Johnson, University of Southampton’s head of cancer medicine, said results of clinical trials suggest it is the “beginning of a whole new era for cancer treatments”.
Data published at the Chicago conference yesterday revealed the most promising results so far were in skin cancer patients.
Other trial results presented showed early successes, compared with conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, in liver, head, neck and common lung cancers.
Prof Johnson said: “Cancers develop because they manage to hide from the immune system and disguise the danger they pose. Immunotherapy works by making the cancer visible again and alerting the body’s immune system to the danger.”
Dr Roy Herbst, of Yale School of Medicine, called the results “spectacular”.
Though more research is needed before immunotherapies become routinely available on the NHS, Cancer Research UK’s Henry Scowcroft said the new treatments were “already making a real difference”.
Vicky Brown was one of the first immunotherapy subjects in the world – and her lung tumour vanished in weeks.
The former college teacher was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2006. By 2013 it had spread to her breasts and lungs and she was given months to live.
Vicky, 61, of Cardiff, went for immunotherapy trials at Royal Marsden Hospital – which blitzed the lung tumour.
She said: “After the treatment, the tumour disappeared. It was miraculous.
“It has given me at least two years of life to enjoy – and hopefully many more.
“I feel blessed I was able to get on this trial. I would definitely want to see people get it on the NHS.”
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