'New wonder drug could be our only hope' (From The Northern Echo)

'New wonder drug could be our only hope'

9:26am Monday 26th February 2007 in News

Kidney cancer patients in the region are being denied a promising new drug called Sutent. Health Editor Barry Nelson talked to a man who is living proof of how Sutent can transform lives.

MARK Franklin is convinced he would have died had it not been for the development of a new generation of cancer drugs.

In March 2005, the cheerful, sporty builder was taken to hospital after repeatedly collapsing.

"I kept keeling over and I lost two stone in weight," said Mr Franklin, who lives in Cheshunt, Buckinghamshire.

Doctors diagnosed kidney cancer, a condition that is difficult to treat and which affects more than 6,000 people a year.

He said: "By November 2005, it had become advanced. They gave me a drug called Interferon, but it didn't work for me. That's when they told me that I was going to die."

His consultant gave him six months to live as the disease spread into his liver, lungs, lymph nodes, chest and ribs.

At that stage, he was so ill he could hardly make it up the stairs of his home.

"I had to have a seat on the landing so I could have a rest," said Mr Franklin, now 39.

By pure chance, a friend of a friend heard of a clinical trial involving a new drug, called Sutent, at Guy's Hospital in London.

Sutent works by blocking an enzyme called tyrosine kinase, which instructs cells to multiply and which, in some cancers, is over-active.

It also targets a protein that promotes the growth of blood vessels connected to the tumour by blocking the process, called angiogenesis. In this way, tumours can be starved of nutrients.

While doctors do not see Sutent as a cure, there is strong evidence that it prevents the disease progressing and gives the patient a longer life.

The effect of the new treatment on Mr Franklin was astonishing.

Eight months after his treatment began, scans confirmed that his secondary tumours had greatly reduced.

He said: "I now actually feel better than I have for years and, to prove the point, I am currently training to complete the Three Peaks challenge in May, which involves climbing the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales."

Training involves running, swimming and cycling 16km every other day.

Mr Franklin is horrified that such an effective drug is not available on the NHS - even cancer specialists across Europe and the US routinely prescribe it. That is why he has pledged to support the Kidney Cancer UK charity in its efforts to increase access to Sutent and a similar drug, called Nexavar.

Mr Franklin got in touch with The Northern Echo when he saw last Monday's exclusive story about the plight of the Devonport family, from Chilton, near Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, on the internet.

He said he wanted the County Durham family to know what a difference Sutent can make - and to offer his support.

In December, kidney cancer patient Kathleen Devonport was told by her consultant at Bishop Auckland General Hospital that the drug she was taking, Interferon, was no longer working and the disease was progressing.

The consultant said the only drug that had a chance of prolonging her life was Sutent, but that was not available on the NHS.

Mrs Devonport's husband of 42 years, Ray, was disgusted and angry.

He said: "You go through life paying into the NHS and then you get to the point where you need it and they don't want to know."

The couple, who have three children and six grandchildren, have written to County Durham Primary Care Trust (PCT) asking for their application for Sutent to be considered.

Meanwhile, the couple are working out how long their life savings will last, paying for the drug costs about £3,000 a month.

In Blyth, on the Northumberland coast, Ken and Judith Potts are in an even worse position.

They have made two appeals for Sutent to their local PCT, but both were turned down.

Mr Potts also feels let down by the NHS.

She said: "Ken has paid into the system for nearly 40 years. It seems it is absolutely fine until you are ill and you need it, but then it's not there for you."

In Mr Potts' case, the cancer has spread into his brain and lungs.

Both couples plan to use the NCRN document as leverage to try to get Sutent on the NHS, but feel they will need wider support.

"This has got to become the standard drug.

"Why should people in America and Europe get it and not here in England?" said Mrs Potts.

"People have to get behind this cause in the same way they got behind the people who fought for the breast cancer drug Herceptin.

"We are desperate."