Joe, 59, was ‘at death’s door’ – then a pioneering but experimental pill beat his cancer in just six months
Patients battling incurable leukemia blood cancer have been given a lifeline – thanks to an experimental pill described as ‘like something out of a science fiction film’.
In an early trial of the drug — known as NX-5948, and so new it has no name — a 59-year-old patient who had run out of treatment options and had only months to live saw his cancer virtually reversed. disappear after he started taking the pills.
Joe Murphy, from Hulme, Greater Manchester, is only the second patient in the world to be offered the treatment at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, and he says it has brought him ‘back from the brink’.
The former bar manager was diagnosed with an aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 2015, which had recently spread to his spinal fluid and brain.
The disease, which causes abnormal white blood cells to build up in the blood and bone marrow, can initially be controlled with the help of tablets, allowing patients to live for almost a decade after diagnosis.
Joe Murphy, from Hulme, Greater Manchester, has become the second patient in the world to receive the revolutionary new pill and says it has brought him ‘back from the brink’
Murphy was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of leukemia, which can cause abnormal white blood cells to build up in the blood and bone marrow (artist’s impression above)
However, over time, the cancer cells become resistant to treatments. This means that there is an urgent need for more medicines for patients diagnosed at a younger age. CLL kills more than 1,000 people in Britain every year.
Last year, Joe stopped responding to the third drug he was taking to control his cancer. He lost more than a quarter of his body weight and, as his immune system weakened, was hospitalized with sepsis and meningitis.
But today, thanks to being offered the groundbreaking drug, tests show virtually no symptoms of the disease. “If it weren’t for the trial, I wouldn’t be here today,” Joe said. ‘After the third treatment failed, I prepared to die. I wasn’t in a good place.
‘But this medicine has kept me alive since June last year. It’s incredible – like something out of a science fiction movie.
‘I’m gaining weight back, my blood count is fine, my lymph nodes have returned to almost normal and it has been successful in getting rid of the cancer in my brain, which is such a relief.’
Although doctors don’t know how long this will keep the disease at bay, Joe says he is now ‘hopeful’ and looking forward to celebrating his 60th birthday in December.
CLL, which affects more than 4,500 Britons every year, is the most common blood cancer in adults, accounting for 38 percent of all leukemia cases.
About 40 percent are 75 years or older. People with a family history of CLL are more likely to develop the disease.
It’s more common in men, for reasons scientists still don’t understand.
The standard treatment for CLL includes inhibitors, which block signals that cause cancer cells to grow, immunotherapy, which works by binding to and killing cancer cells, and chemotherapy.
Patients may also be offered combinations of these treatments, which studies show produce better results. NX-5948, developed by San Francisco-based drug company Nurix Therapeutics, belongs to a new class of treatments for blood cancers known as degraders.
They work by using the natural elimination system in cells – in this case they target a specific protein that CLL cancers need to grow and ‘mark’ it to be destroyed.
Dr. Emma Searle, consultant haematologist at The Christie and lead investigator on the trial, said: ‘This could be the breakthrough we have been looking for in the treatment of CLL.
‘The drug targets a pathway that CLL cells are particularly dependent on and essentially blows it up.
‘As physicians, we are excited because we are seeing a response, even at a low dose, in patients who have exhausted all standard care options and are very difficult to treat.
‘It is promising to already see that some of our patients, like Joe, are responding so well to treatment, with minimal side effects.
“Time will tell if this makes it to market, but it’s about as promising as an early-stage study can deliver.”
The US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has already granted the treatment fast-track – meaning patients can get access to it more quickly – because the early results are so promising.
Further stages of the process are underway.