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Doctors are on a quest to find cancer ‘super survivors’ who may unlock the secret to beating The Big C.
It comes as part of a new trial which will study people who have survived five years after being diagnosed with advanced cancer.
The Times reported eight UK hospitals will take place in the international trial to find the world’s cancer ‘super survivors’ — people who should have had months to live but instead are alive five years later — to find out how they have survived for so long.
Doctor Thankamma Ajithkumar, an oncologist at Cambridge University Hospitals, told the newspaper: ‘You have these patients […] and all you can think is, why is this guy still around?.
‘Every ten years or so, you find someone who beats all the odds,’ he added.
The aim of the trial is to discover what is making these sick people live, rather than what makes sick people die.
Eight UK hospitals will take place in the international trial to find the world’s cancer ‘super survivors’ — people who should have had months to live but instead are alive five years later — to find out how they have survived for so long (file image)
Doctors aim to understand why there are exceptional survivors of the disease and how they may have managed to overcome these mutations (file image)
Nicolas Wolikow, a co-founder of French biotech company Cure51, is organising the trial and said cancer is a ‘pernicious’ disease because it is one that mutates.
In order to discover more about it, he said, ‘we are going to try and become as intelligent as it is’.
Doctors aim to understand why there are exceptional survivors of the disease and how they may have managed to overcome these mutations.
Mr Wolikow said the goal is to find around 500 people in the UK and abroad who have contracted three of the deadliest cancers and should have died much sooner.
The deadliest cancers are advanced small-cell lung cancer, advanced pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer.
Some of the people involved may have eventually passed away from the cancer, but there will be others who are still alive.
Dr Ajithkumar said the team were searching through medical records and spreading the word amongst colleagues.
He questioned whether some people’s immune system may be stronger or perhaps they respond better to treatments.
But the hunch is that there must be something.
‘We want to learn from anecdotes’, Dr Ajithkumar said.
Any potential super-survivors of advanced small cell lung cancer, advanced pancreatic cancer or glioblastoma can contact info@cancer.cam.ac.uk to take part in the trial.
