A man who was told he only has 12 months to live is now free of cancer thanks to a new drug trial.
Robert Glynn, 51, a welder from Worsley in Greater Manchester, was diagnosed with bile duct cancer after suffering severe pain in his shoulder which kept him up all night.
Mr Glynn said he “wouldn’t be here” if it were not for the results of the trial run by the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester.
Despite a series of scans and tests at his GP, his cancer was only picked up by chance when he got an infection in his gall bladder.
The day before his 49th birthday, in August 2020, Mr Glynn was told the devastating news that he had intrahepatic bile duct cancer (cancer that forms in the bile ducts inside the liver).
Also known as biliary tract cancer, it is a rare form of the disease with few treatment options.
Only around 1,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with it every year and just 5 per cent of people live for five years or more after diagnosis.
Mr Glynn was told his cancer was at an advanced stage and had spread to his adrenal gland. He was referred to the Christie where experts offered him the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial of immunotherapy.
Before starting the trial, Mr Glynn’s tumour was analysed to check for any genetic alterations.
The result showed the tumour had a high mutation burden (large numbers of genetic mutations in the cells), suggesting he may potentially have a good response to treatment.
Mr Glynn was started on an immunotherapy drug which is already approved for use in other cancers, including lung, kidney and oesophageal cancer.
The treatment, which is given by a drip and helps a person’s own immune system fight cancer, was combined with standard chemotherapy.
The drug cannot be named due to the experimental nature of this trial for bile duct cancer.
To his surprise, Mr Glynn saw his tumours shrink on the treatment.
The tumour in his liver went from 12cm to 2.6cm, while his adrenal gland tumour shrank from 7cm to 4.1cm.
My Glynn was referred to the Christie where experts offered him the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial of immunotherapy
This meant Mr Glynn was able to undergo surgery in April to remove his tumours.
Surgeons found only dead tissue which meant the treatment had killed off all the cancer cells.
Mr Glynn said: “I wouldn’t be here today without the trial.
“When I was given the option to take part in research, I jumped at the chance. You do anything you can to extend your life.
Robert Glynn was told he had less than 12 months to live is now cancer-free thanks to a clinical trial run in the UK
