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 is a patient currently on a Dendritic Cell Cancer Vaccine Trial. He describes his experience:
“In 1996 aged 25, I went to my GP to have a large mole on my lower back checked out. I was immediately referred to the local hospital to have it removed. Some cell abnormalities were detected, and the mole was removed - there was no mention of cancer. Some five years later I developed swollen lymph glands and a lump under my left armpit. After exploratory surgery and an biopsy at my local hospital I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. I was referred to Professor Dalgleish at St Georges Hospital. I started on the Morton Vaccine trial developed by Dr Donald Morton at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in the US. To this day I am still unsure as to whether I received the vaccine, but in any case, for me it was not a success. A year later a routine scan turned up a brain lesion, fortunately it was close enough to the surface to remove. However, in the following years three other lesions appeared in my brain resulting in more surgery. Treatment options were running out and I wanted to avoid brain radiotherapy at all costs. It was decided to try a dendritic cell vaccine, developed and prepared by Professor Dalgleish and his team.
To date I am approaching three years without further relapse. As with most experimental treatments, it is difficult to establish with absolute certainty whether the dendritic vaccine is making the difference, but it seems likely. The time and care I have received since being with Professor Dalgleish’s clinic in St Georges is second to none. I have researched treatment options available on a global scale; and truly believe I could not get better care or treatment anywhere at any cost. The excellent consultation, research and expert surgical care received from the clinic has without doubt kept me alive to date. Whilst the demons never disappear, I am living a normal life. I work full time, I’m undertaking a part-time MSC, I’ve completed the London Marathon and jog or swim most days, I train in martial arts and last year I was fortunate enough to marry.”
