Major breakthrough in Mesothelioma cancer treatment

  • Meridian

  • Video report by ITV Meridian reporter Mary Stanley

Scientists in Southampton have made a major breakthrough in the treatment of a cancer that affects more than 2000 people each year.

Mesothelioma is linked to breathing in asbestos fibres. It's a particular problem around the South Coast, where many cases historically came from people working in the docks.

  • Carol Wesson from Wimborme in Dorset went for hospital tests in 2017 after developing difficulties breathing while walking her dogs.

  • Prof Gareth Griffiths is the Head of Southampton Clinical Trials Unit

More than 2,600 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the UK and it mostly affects people aged 60 to 80 and more men than women.

Now Southampton's Clinical trials unit funded by Cancer Research UK has found a new treatment for this aggressive disease - when chemotherapy and radiotherapy fail.

Immunotherapy is used for other cancers, but now has proved effective for some patients with mesothelioma too.

Currently, only around 7% of patients with this type of cancer live for more than 5 years after their diagnosis, which is why this is being hailed as such a major breakthrough.

Now experts are lobbying the Government body NICE to ensure the drug is available to all patients in the future