Cancer drug trial: Indian-origin woman in UK recovers after losing hope
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A clinical trial of a drug for cancer has been showing impressive effects in the UK. An Indian-origin woman is being hailed as a beneficiary as she has been cancer-free for a few years now.
51-year-old Jasmin David was given a few months to live after her first diagnosis in 2017. She went through six months of chemotherapy and a mastectomy in 2018. After 15 cycles of radiotherapy, her body was found to be free of cancer. However, after 15 months, the disease returned in 2019.
Jasmin then underwent a two-year clinical trial at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Manchester Clinical Research Facility (CRF) at Christie NHS Foundation Trust. She was administered an experimental medicine combined with Atezolizumab, an immunotherapy drug.
Tests conducted in June 2021 showed no measurable cancer cells in her body. She will continue the treatment till December 2023. As of now, Jasmin is cancer-free.
She says there was no assurance that the trial will work for her but decided to take part in it to help the next generation. Initially, Jasmin experienced severe headaches and spiking temperatures. Soon after that, she began responding positively to the treatment.
Jasmin had an aggressive triple negative form of breast cancer. It was diagnosed after she noticed a lump above the nipple. When cancer returned in 2019, the scans found multiple lesions all over her body. It had spread to the lungs, lymph nodes, and chest bone. Doctors told her that she had less than a year to live.
Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite, medical oncologist and clinical director of Manchester CRF at The Christie, said the researchers are happy to see the good outcome. The team is determined to test new drugs and therapies to see if they can benefit more people.