Latest news with #ThankammaAjithkumar
BBC News
29-01-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Cambridge 'super-survivor' to join international cancer study
A woman diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour and told she had months to live, is now in remission, five years later, making her survival of interest to Webster, 52, from Cambridge, was told she had a grade four glioblastoma in March 2020 when she was 47. It is a fast-growing, aggressive type of brain tumour, with 25% of patients surviving more than a year, and only 5% of patients surviving more than five years, according to The Brain Tumour surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Ms Webster has been described in medical circles as a cancer "super-survivor". In March, when she marks five years since her diagnosis, she will be invited to take part in the Rosalind study, an international trial aimed at understanding the biological factors behind long-term cancer survival. The UK phase of the Rosalind study is being co-ordinated by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with eight UK hospitals joining others around the world identifying the small percentage of cancer patients who beat the odds and survive years after being clinical oncologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, and chief investigator for the UK part of the study, Dr Thankamma Ajithkumar, said the work was focusing on the three most aggressive and deadly cancers - advanced small-cell lung cancer, advanced pancreatic cancer and said: "Rather than focusing on why cancer patients do not survive, this study seeks to understand what it is that makes them live. "By investigating the biology of this elite group of super-survivors, the study aims to discover insights that could potentially benefit and improve outcomes for all patients." 'Such a joy' Ms Webster does suffer some memory loss and has had physiotherapy to help with the rehabilitation of her right hand side, but otherwise describes herself as doing "remarkably well". "I'm not sure what the secret is as to why I am still here," she said. "I was told that I had months to live, not years. "Almost five years on from receiving that cancer diagnosis, I try to make the most of life - I live every day as if it's my last."Ms Webster used to row competitively before her diagnosis, and with help and support from family and friends at Chesterton Rowing Club, she now rows every week."Rowing is a big passion, so the thought of returning to the river got me through radiotherapy and chemotherapy," she said."After receiving such a shocking prognosis, it is now such a joy for me being out on the river. "I can't believe I'm potentially one of these so-called cancer super-survivors."Researchers intend to gather tumour samples from more than 1,000 consenting patients who are among the top 3% in terms of cancer Ajithkumar added: "We don't want to just hear stories like Katherine's – we want to learn from them." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Sky News
28-01-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Doctors look for clues on why 'super survivors' overcome cancer in first global study
Doctors have begun the first global study of why some people with cancer beat the odds and survive so much longer than expected. Many cancer specialists have anecdotal stories of patients who have overcome even the most aggressive forms of the disease, despite being given only months to live. The Rosalind study will now bring together large numbers of 'super survivors', allowing scientists to look for clues to why they have responded so well to treatment, while others die. In the past doctors may have put stark differences in survival down to luck. But Dr Thankamma Ajithkumar, who is leading the UK arm of the study at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, said the hunt was on for a more scientific reason. "This is the first time anybody has tried to answer this question why there is a select group of people who do exceptionally well after these dreadful cancers," he told Sky News. "We will have a much larger database to say more confidently that this is what is making you live longer." The study will focus on some of the most aggressive forms of the disease - extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, the brain cancer glioblastoma, and metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Just 3% to 5% of patients are still alive five years after diagnosis. 'I never believed I was going to die' Katherine Webster will be joining the study. She was found to have a stage four glioblastoma after suffering a seizure on a train. Scans revealed the tumour in her brain was around 8cm across. Yet after surgery and a course of radiotherapy and chemo all signs of the cancer disappeared. Her latest scan, in December, showed she only has a small fluid-filled space in the left side of her brain. "I never believed I was going to die," she said. "I just remember coming out of the surgery and saying, 'I'm going to fight this'. "Having that positive mental attitude has been really important for me." Katherine rows regularly near where she lives in Cambridge. Apart from tiring easily and having an occasional tremor in her hand, she is well. "The thing that really struck me was the study's approach," she said. "It's looking at the positive effects, why you survive as opposed to why you get ill, which is the normal default setting for studies these days. "It synchronised with my approach to the disease." Scientists in more than 40 countries - including eight cancer centres in the UK - will take part in the study. They'll analyse detailed biological information from more than 1,000 patients and their tumours, comparing genetic mutations, proteins and other factors that may determine their response to treatment. 'We might find targets for drugs' Dr Ajithkumar said: "We hope to answer our basic curiosity of why somebody is alive. "And second, we might find a number of targets for future drugs." The study is being run by French biotech startup Cure51, with backing from the venture capital firm Sofinnova. Nicolas Wolikow, Cure51's co-founder, told Sky News that the aim was to "kill cancer" in 20 years. "The ambition of the project is to eradicate cancer," he said. "If we could unlock these biological mechanisms that are possessed by these survivors and replicate that for the majority of patients, I think we could do it."
