Grandmother's cancer can be treated with tablets
BBCA grandmother with stage four lung cancer says she is looking forward to enjoying life after discovering it could be controlled with just two daily tablets.
Christina Isik, 71, from Hindley in Greater Manchester, was on holiday with her husband in Turkey two years ago when she suddenly fell ill.
Using a cutting-edge blood test, scientists have found Christina's cancer has a genetic mutation which allows her to be treated with tablets rather than more conventional techniques like chemotherapy.
A lab in Manchester is now managing the blood test for the whole of the north of England.
Christina was told her diagnosis after she returned home for medical treatment.
"It was awful, just awful. I just cried," she said.
She began treatment at The Christie hospital in Manchester, but instead being offered chemotherapy the hospital sent a sample of her blood off to be genetically sequenced.
This showed that her cancer had a mutation called ROS1, which meant she was able to take a targeted drug to slow and potentially even halt the spread of the disease.
Christine's blood sample had to be sent to a specialist centre in Germany, but a laboratory in central Manchester is now managing the samples for the whole of the north of England.
Currently it can identify faulty genes for breast and lung cancer – but other cancers are expected to be added soon.
While chemotherapy and radiotherapy are still a mainstay of cancer treatment, specialists are increasingly turning to targeted therapies, which can have far fewer side effects and can also be more effective for some cancers.
Dr Matthew Krebs, consultant in medical oncology at The Christie, said: "When we get a personalised treatment we're really just honing down on the part of the cancer that's causing the problem
"We're really focussing on something we understand about that individual's cancer and we're much more likely to get prolonged control by understanding that rather than using something that blasts everything," he added.
But in order to do that, the faulty gene has to be picked out of thousands in the blood sample.
The test, created by the medical firm Roche, uses fragments of DNA which detach from the main tumour and circulate around the blood stream – they're known as circulating tumour cells.
It picks up and identifies the cancer causing genes, which then allows clinicians to potentially match the cancer with a treatment.
Until late last year the need to send all tests abroad meant results could take six weeks to come back.
But the North West Genomic Laboratory Hub, sited opposite Manchester Royal Infirmary, has cut this time to just 14 days.
The lab's Scientific Operational Director Dr Emma Howard said staff had gone out to Germany to be trained in the complex testing process.
"It opens the door to much better treatments," she said.
Up until very recently only lung and breast cancers have been able to be tested, but Dr Howard said that was now expanding.
"[The test] is not specific to the tumour being tested. It can be applied across a range of cancers," she said.
It is now being used for cancers of "unknown primary", where clinicians are not able to work out the source, and the hope is to go much wider.
"We are also looking at biliary cancers, pancreatic cancer, potentially prostate cancer, and even potentially looking at clinical trial opportunities for patients as well," said Dr Krebs.
"It's really important that we're testing everyone who is potentially eligible for these tests."
Back in Hindley, Christina is looking forward to another holiday in Turkey.
"I'd like to be here for quite a few years longer really because I've got two small grandchildren who I'd like to see grow up," she said.
"My son's getting married in 2028 so I'd like to be there for that as well".
"I'm just going to get on with it and enjoy life. Take each day as it comes".
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