Grandfather who beat cancer urges public to join health research
Stephen Cossins tried a drug combination instead of standard chemotherapy.
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Your support makes all the difference.A grandfather who beat cancer with experimental therapy has urged members of the public to join research studies.
Stephen Cossins, 71, from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), a rare type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.
When the cancer began to spread around his body, he took part in a clinical trial looking at drugs that block the growth of the cancer.
Instead of standard chemotherapy, he was put on Ibrutinib three times a day for three months, before then taking another drug, venetolclax, as well.
Two years later, he has no signs of cancer.
He said: āIt was the best thing I ever did. I entered the trial three years ago and was cured, cancer free, after two years. Itās amazing.
āMy wife and children are all delighted. I donāt think any of us believed this day would come. Itās wonderful but Iām so relieved itās over.
If anyone is ever invited to take part in a research study, Iād say put your faith and trust in the nurses and doctors. They know what they are doing
āIām one of the lucky ones. Iāve been successful on the trial but I hope it can help other people going through the same thing.
āIf anyone is ever invited to take part in a research study, Iād say put your faith and trust in the nurses and doctors. They know what they are doing.
āYou have everything to gain and nothing to lose. And you could save the lives of people living with cancer in the future.ā
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which helped fund the study Mr Cossins took part in, has launched a Shape the Future campaign to urge people to join health research.
It runs the Be Part of Research service, which has attracted more than 150,000 people so far.
This new digital āmatch-makingā service helps people to find and take part in health and care research across the UK.
People can register their interest via the Be Part of Research website or via the NHS App if they live in England, and they can choose which health conditions they are interested in, such as diabetes, cancer and back pain, or sign up as a healthy volunteer.
People can also choose what type of research they want to do, such as drug trials, scans, focus groups or filling in online questionnaires.
Mr Cossins said his diagnosis ācame as a complete shockā.
I thought that I would prefer to have chemotherapy because itās the standard treatment. I thought ādo I really want to be a guinea pig for new drugs?ā
He said: āI had no symptoms and Iāve always been a very well person. I hadnāt had a day off work sick in over 20 years.
āYou always think the C word happens to other people. When they told me, I thought āthatās it thenā.
āYou feel so much inevitability about the whole thing.ā
Mr Cossins was diagnosed in 2016 and remembers the feeling of shock.
āMy children were distraught when I told them and my wife was hit harder by the news that I was. She was devastated.ā
The grandfather, who has three grandchildren aged eight, seven and four, said of them: āI couldnāt tell them the news. They were just too young and I didnāt want them to worry.ā
In 2019, his cancer began to spread aggressively. At its worst, he began to lose weight, and felt extremely tired and lethargic.
In November 2019, Mr Cossins was invited by a consultant to take part in the FLAIR trial into drugs.
āInitially I didnāt think that taking part in the trial was for me,ā he said.
āI thought that I would prefer to have chemotherapy because itās the standard treatment. I thought ādo I really want to be a guinea pig for new drugs?ā
āBut after the consultant and nurses explained that by taking these drugs as part of the trial, there was a possibility of being completely cancer free in two years, I thought it was worth a shot. I had to roll the dice.
āIāve now got more time to spend with my grandkids, my family and my wife.
āWeāve been married for 46 years. I think weāll celebrate being cancer-free properly with a short break in Devon or Cornwall.ā
Patients and the wider public are vital to this research - it is you who help researchers find the cures, treatments and breakthroughs that can help us, our friends and families to live the best and healthiest lives possible
NIHR chief executive and chief scientific adviser to the Department of Health, Professor Lucy Chappell, said: āThe NIHR funds and supports research that aims to make a difference to patients across the country ā and even further afield.
āOur research covers all areas from the laboratory right through to the clinic. It leads to new treatments that benefit us in so many different ways, across so many different areas of health and care.
āPatients and the wider public are vital to this research ā it is you who help researchers find the cures, treatments and breakthroughs that can help us, our friends and families to live the best and healthiest lives possible.ā
Health minister, Will Quince, said: āThe volunteers who are taking part in promising research ā including one who was cured of cancer ā are helping researchers find medical breakthroughs and ultimately helping the NHS to save lives.ā
āNIHRās research studies can lead to billions of pounds in savings for the NHS and cut waiting lists through faster diagnosis and enhanced treatment ā but it canāt take place without volunteers, so I encourage anyone eligible to sign up.ā