shane
02-10-2014, 12:40
Two years ago my son Tom entered the Royal Parks Half Marathon to raise funds on behalf of the Bone Cancer Resrearch Trust. With some trepidation I posted a link to his fundraising page here, and was overwhelmed by the generous response of AoS members.
Well, he's doing it again, and this time I can give you a bit of background which wasn't made public before. Seven or eight years ago Tom's best mate Pete was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a very agressive form of bone cancer that usually affects people in their late teens and early 20s, and has a long-term survival rate of around 10%.
Pete became very ill despite chemo and radio therapy and his prognosis was pretty desperate, but in 2009 he was put on an experimental drug produced by Pfizer with the unlikely name of Figitumumab. This was a drug which was being developed for the treatment of lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancers, but the advancement of Pete's condition was deemed particularly suitable for him to be included in the trial in order to find out if it would be effective in the treatment of Ewing's. I believe he was one of four Ewings sufferers in the trial, two of whom have since died, but the effect on Pete was little short of miraculous. Within a year his symptoms had virtually disappeared and he was able to lead a normal life, punctuated only by occasional visits to London for top-up treatment. Earlier this year he and his long-term girlfriend Harry were married, and Pete has also now completed his qualifications as a chartered accountant. Thanks to the treatment Pete and Harry have been able to make plans for the future like anyone else, but earlier this year everything was put on hold. Pfizer announced that the trials of Figitumumab had been unsuccsesful in all but a very few cases and that they would no longer be manufacturing it, but they would continue to supply Pete and others who had benefitted until the shelf-life of the remaining stocks expire. That will happen this month. No-one knows whether the drug has cured Pete, or whether it's simply held the condition at bay. Time alone will tell.
Obviously, research being carried out by the BCRT now isn't going to be of immediate benefit to Pete, but he, Harry and their friends have been fundraising tirelessly over the last few years. Back in July, his predicament was featured on File on 4 on Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b049828l .
I'm a little bit dubious about "coming back for more", but I'm hopeful that I'll get the same response that I got last time.
Tom's fundraising page is here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=tom-white , and the event will be on the 12th October.
Thanks all for listening.
Well, he's doing it again, and this time I can give you a bit of background which wasn't made public before. Seven or eight years ago Tom's best mate Pete was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a very agressive form of bone cancer that usually affects people in their late teens and early 20s, and has a long-term survival rate of around 10%.
Pete became very ill despite chemo and radio therapy and his prognosis was pretty desperate, but in 2009 he was put on an experimental drug produced by Pfizer with the unlikely name of Figitumumab. This was a drug which was being developed for the treatment of lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancers, but the advancement of Pete's condition was deemed particularly suitable for him to be included in the trial in order to find out if it would be effective in the treatment of Ewing's. I believe he was one of four Ewings sufferers in the trial, two of whom have since died, but the effect on Pete was little short of miraculous. Within a year his symptoms had virtually disappeared and he was able to lead a normal life, punctuated only by occasional visits to London for top-up treatment. Earlier this year he and his long-term girlfriend Harry were married, and Pete has also now completed his qualifications as a chartered accountant. Thanks to the treatment Pete and Harry have been able to make plans for the future like anyone else, but earlier this year everything was put on hold. Pfizer announced that the trials of Figitumumab had been unsuccsesful in all but a very few cases and that they would no longer be manufacturing it, but they would continue to supply Pete and others who had benefitted until the shelf-life of the remaining stocks expire. That will happen this month. No-one knows whether the drug has cured Pete, or whether it's simply held the condition at bay. Time alone will tell.
Obviously, research being carried out by the BCRT now isn't going to be of immediate benefit to Pete, but he, Harry and their friends have been fundraising tirelessly over the last few years. Back in July, his predicament was featured on File on 4 on Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b049828l .
I'm a little bit dubious about "coming back for more", but I'm hopeful that I'll get the same response that I got last time.
Tom's fundraising page is here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=tom-white , and the event will be on the 12th October.
Thanks all for listening.