A staggering 1 in 3 people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime (CRUK, 2004). Until a prevention or cure is found, it is vital that treatments are improved and advanced. Anyone who has been affected by cancer personally or through a loved one will understand what it is like to cope with this disease and how important is it to find more effective and less invasive ways to treat it.
Currently, vaccines are being "tested" for specific cancers through clinical trials and without sufficient funding it may be many years before they become a routine part of treatment to treat all cancers.
Peter Cook took part in a cancer vaccine trial and describes his experience:
“Back in 1996 aged just twenty-five, I had mole removed that had some cell abnormalities… cancer wasn’t mentioned. Five years later I developed swollen lymph glands and alump under my left armpit and was diagnosed as having malignant melanoma. Surgery followed including four craniotomy procedures when lesions were discovered in my brain.
Having tried various unsuccessful approaches my treatment options were running out. I was fortunate to be recommended to Professor Dalgleish and as a result able to follow a course of dendritic cell cancer vaccine coupled with m-vaccae and thalidomide.
I have been living with cancer now for ten years and for seven of those I have had no further relapses and no detectable signs of cancer.
Given my treatment has necessarily not followed a standard treatment plan, it cannot be proven if one, all or the combination of these various treatments has made the difference. However the remission has followed commencement of dendritic cell treatment.
Whilst the demons never disappear, I am living a normal life. I feel that fitness has benefited me if not in being more resilient, at least in feeling I am, so I try to exercise frequently. I have taken part in the London Marathon and recently completed a half iron-man raising funds for the CVI.
Throughout my treatment, I have been fortunate to keep working full-time, currently managing European operations, comprising of a network of offices and logistics centres. This is a role I had not dreamt of attaining during my surgery and treatment several years ago.”
