A nan-of-five is now cancer free after taking part in a new trial looking to replace chemotherapy. With a collaborative trial set up between University College London, UCLH, The Christie in Manchester, St. James’s University Hospital in Leeds, University Hospital Southampton and the University of Glasgow, an immunotherapy drug called pembrolizumab has been given to bowel cancer patients before surgery, instead of chemotherapy.
While the findings are only interim results, they showed significantly more patients with a certain genetic profile were cancer free after surgery when using this approach, which could help between 2,000 and 3,000 bowel cancer patients in the UK every year. Eileen was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in July 2023 (Image: The Christie) One of the patients on this trial was Leyther Eileen Unsworth, from Leigh, who is married to Peter, and has four grown-up children and five grandchildren, and initially went to the doctor a year ago with a suspected thyroid problem. After beginning to feel breathless while walking her black Labrador, Eileen was referred to The Christie in July 2023 and after doctors discovered a tumour in her colon, she was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer.
However, Eileen was told that she was suitable to take part in the clinical trial which was testing pembrolizumab as a treatment given before surgery for some types of colorectal (bowel) cancer. Eileen, 77, said: "I‘ve never actually felt ill or had any pain. It might seem str.
