UK woman declared cancer-free, thanks to new 'miracle drug'

A civil servant from the UK has been given the all-clear from cancer after becoming the first person in Wales to be prescribed a new wonder drug, according to a report published by Swansea Bay University Health Board. News agency BBC also reported it. 42-year-old Carrie Downey was diagnosed with bowel cancer a year ago and given dostarlimab infusions for six months. Tests have shown there is no longer any evidence of the disease, the report said. The drug, dostarlimab, targets a specific variant of colorectal cancer.

Carrie was diagnosed on 1st September last year while doctors were investigating after she complained of having pains from a previous hernia mesh implant.

The drug, which is still being clinically trialed in many parts of the world, is now a standard treatment option for all eligible patients in Wales, the report said. Dostarlimab is a form of immunotherapy, a targeted treatment which helps the immune system destroy the cancer. Apart from Wales, Italy has so far approved dostarlimab as a standard offer for the specific variant of colorectal cancer, the report said.

“He had checked my biopsies and knew I had this rare mutation. He said there had been trials, and he was confident he could get the funding because I met the criteria. He asked if I would like to go ahead with it,” Carrie Downey said referring to doctor Dr Craig Barrington.

Carrie then decided to proceed. She was put on dostarlimab for six months, with each three-weekly IV administration taking around 30 minutes, the report said.

Midway through her treatment, scans showed the tumour had shrunk significantly, the report said, adding that "at the end of the course there was no evidence of the disease. Two subsequent scans have confirmed this."

Carrie now is preparing to return to work following her successful treatment.

Another patient, acccording to the report, already benefiting is 73-year-old mother-of-two Janet Baker from Newport in Pembrokeshire. Janet was diagnosed in February and put on dostarlimab in April. “I had an MRI scan three months into the treatment and it was clear. The effect has been absolutely brilliant. For me it truly has been a miracle drug,” she said.