'BACK
FROM THE DEAD' Miracle cancer drug SAVES man given two weeks to live A “MIRACLE
drug” has saved the life of a terminally ill cancer patient who had been given
just two weeks to live. By Lucy Johnston, 5/22/16
Merchant seaman
Simon Lamont-Brown, 50, was bedridden in a hospice and near death from lung
cancer before he was given the breakthrough treatment.
He said it was like
a Lazarus effect “because I just rose from the dead”. The drug has few
side effects because it harnesses the body’s own immune system to fight
tumours.
Nivolumab has had
“remarkable” success fighting end-stage lung cancer in trials, experts say. It
is also effective against other cancers.
However it will not
be provided on the NHS because it costs too much. The National Institute for
Clinical Excellence has decided not to approve it for immediate use.
Mr. Lamont-Brown
last night spoke of his anger. He said: “What price is a life? The fact
that I was able to use this drug is tinged with guilt because I know other
people with lung cancer will not have the same chance as I did. “It
should be made available to everyone who could benefit.” Mr Lamont-Brown,
of Maidstone in Kent, only received the drug because it was paid for by his
private healthcare insurance.
Within 10 days of
taking nivolumab he began to feel better and was soon walking again. Days
later he was well enough to go home and after 10 months regular scans showed
his tumour had shrunk dramatically.
The father-of-one
says he is now “feeling fine” and “living a normal life.” He added: “My
oncologist called it ‘the Lazarus effect’ because I just rose from the
dead.”
Lung cancer expert
Professor Dean Fennel, of the University of Leicester, said: “The scientific
benefit of this drug is unquestionable for all patients and for some the
effects were remarkable.”
He said he was
“hugely disappointed” at the NICE decision, adding: “The UK will be behind
other nations as a result of this decision, especially as patients do so well
on this drug which has not got the potentially life-threatening side effects of
chemotherapy.”
Paula Chadwick,
chief executive of lung cancer charity, the Roy Castle Foundation, said:
“Nivolumab represents real hope. “We strongly urge dialogue between the
manufacturer, Nice and NHS England to ensure cost issues are addressed.”
Mr Lamont-Brown was
diagnosed with lung cancer in February last year after visiting his GP with a
hoarse voice.
Scans showed he had
lung cancer that had spread, to his vocal cords and lymph nodes.
He had five rounds
of chemotherapy which stopped being effective last July. His health then went
rapidly downhill. His specialist gave him two weeks to live and he was sent to
a hospice.
He said: “I could
hardly walk, I was so debilitated by pain even though I was on morphine. One of
the worst moments was a day when the nurse asked me if I wanted to go for a
walk – she helped me get up. I got 10 yards but had to ask her to take me back
as I couldn’t go any farther.”
However, his
specialist suggested he tried the nivolumab. He had his first course on his
50th birthday last August. After a second he
started to feel better and asked to go home. “I couldn’t believe it,” he
said, “I had told my friends I needed a miracle and I’ve had one.”
A draft ruling by
Nice has ruled against funding the drug for NHS patients. A final decision will
be made in June.
Experts say a
negative decision for lung cancer patients could mean the drug may not be
funded in the future for other cancers that it can treat, including blood,
bladder and kidney tumours.
Pharmaceutical
company BristolMyers Squibb, which created the drug, has offered to pay for
nivolumab for patients after they have been funded by the NHS for more than a
year.
Professor Carole
Longson, director of the centre for health technology evaluation at Nice, said:
“We recognise that nivolumab is a promising new treatment. “Nice already
recommends other treatments for lung cancer – docetaxel and nintedanib – that
are more cost effective than nivolumab at its current pricing. “The
decisions for lung cancer are not yet final. We are open to further
discussion.”
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/672595/Miracle-cancer-drug-saves-man-given-two-weeks-to-live
1 comment:
How i survived lungs cancer.
I was diagnosed of lung cancer in 2011 and the doctor (oncologist), because i was a chronic smoker who started smoking from 16 and told me i had just two years to live that my lungs had been damaged, that even on the best medication i still had two years. I needed help because i was scared to die and i did chemotherapy, radiotherapy and it was unable to treat or help me. I coughed nearly every minute. In my death clock counting just 6 months remaining, if you knew me then i was good as dead because the cancer had eaten me up. My wife was fortunate enough to contact doctor Amber, a herbal doctor who came and treated me in our house using his medicine and that is how i was saved (where western medicine and methods failed), that was the greatest decision my wife had taken aside marrying me. Today i am totally fine without any symptoms of cancer, it was all confirmed by my oncologist that i am clean. Do not die in silence or rely only on western medicine herbal medicine is very effective. You can contact the doctor on (drambermurray@gmail.com) for more information about his treatment.
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