Rectal cancer clinical trials a 'game-changer'

A woman diagnosed with rectal cancer who was faced with the possibility of having a stoma for the rest of her life has said she is "so glad" she went for a clinical trial.

Sharon Price, 51, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, was 45 and recently married when she found out she had an early-stage form of the cancer.

Experts at the NHS Clatterbridge Cancer Centre on the Wirral treated her with a type of internal radiotherapy, meaning she avoided invasive surgery.

Mrs Price said the trial meant she could enjoy "a normal, healthy life".

"It has had no lasting impact on my life - and I wonder if that would have been the case if I had not joined the research," she said.

She said the alternative would have meant surgery and a stoma - an opening on the abdomen which connects to the digestive system and allows waste to be diverted into a bag.

"That was devastating - I was just too young to have to go through that and live with the consequences," she said.

"Many people do live with a stoma but for me, there would be no reversal of it, and I found it very difficult to contemplate that."

She added that she still had the option of surgery, if the new technique failed.

The global clinical trials followed 141 patients for five years and found a rise in preservation rates for the rectum, from 56% with (CXB) standard treatment to 79% in those given a rapid treatment preserving healthy tissue.

The technique uses contact X-ray brachytherapy, combined with chemo-radiotherapy, to deliver radiation directly on to the tumour.

Each treatment application kills cancer cells layer by layer, while preventing damage to the normal, healthy bowel around the tumour.

Clatterbridge consultant Professor Sun Myint, who led the UK arm of the research, said: "The ability to preserve organs in nearly 80% of cases without compromising bowel function or long-term quality of life is a game-changer for patients."

Mrs Price had three rounds of CXB before 25 sessions of standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

This eradicated her cancer and it was followed up with intensive monitoring for three years before she was given the all-clear.

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