Dying mum now cancer-free thanks to NHS clinical trial

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Jasmin David was told she had just 10 months to live in October 2019.

But after taking part in the “miracle” drug infusion trial, doctors told the 51-year-old that 100 percent of her cancer had been wiped away.

Beaming Jasmin told the Daily Express: “It’s hard to believe. One moment I was saying goodbye to loved-ones and now my cancer’s completely gone. NHS scientists and medics are amazing!”

“It has made me reassess my life for the better, appreciate what I have but also be so thankful to those who create these incredible treatments.”

News of Jasmin’s amazing recovery comes just days after the tragic death of bowel cancer campaigner Dame Deborah James, 40, whose tireless work has raised more than £7million to find cures for cancer.

Married mum-of-two Jasmin, a former care home nurse from Fallowfield, Manchester, was diagnosed with “triple negative” breast cancer in November 2017.

The particularly nasty form of the disease does not respond to advanced treatments, such as hormone therapy.

After months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment and a mastectomy to remove her left breast, Jasmin was given the all-clear in May 2018.

But 17 months later, after she developed a dry cough and a pain in her chest, she received the devastating news that not only was the cancer back, but untreatable secondary tumours had spread to her lungs, lymph nodes and chest bone.

She recalled: “My doctor said, ‘I’m so sorry – we can’t offer you anything. We can just make you comfortable.’ I was shattered.”

But Jasmin’s children, Ryan, 23, and Riona, 20, urged her not to give up.

She said: “My kids told me, ‘You’ve beaten it once, you can do it again.’ And the hospital mentioned the possibility of more chemotherapy or clinical trials. But I was in shock.”

Jasmin decided to fly to Kerala in India with her husband, David Lazar, 55, so she could say goodbye to her mum Anna, 95.

She said: “I wept as I gave her what I feared was our last ever hug. But she filled me with positivity and told me, ‘I’m sure you will see me again – and both of us will be alive.’ I returned and agreed to do the clinical trial.”

The Christie hospital in Manchester found a trial of an infusion of drugs that Jasmin could try at its NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility.

In December 2019, she started taking an experimental medicine combined with atezolizumab – an immunotherapy drug.

She said: “I didn’t know if the trial would work for me, but I thought that at least I could do something to help others.”

“At first I had many horrible side effects, including headaches and spiking temperatures. Then thankfully I started to respond well to the treatment.”

In March 2020, her first scan since starting the trial revealed 80 percent of Jasmin’s lesions had vanished. And by December 2021, every single cancer cell in her body had gone.

But she is still having the treatment every three weeks to help with The Christie’s research.

She said: “From 10 months to live, to my whole life ahead of me. I feel so blessed and thankful. It’s a miracle.”

Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite, of the Manchester Clinical Research Facility said: “We’re really pleased Jasmin has had such a good outcome.

“This treatment is being tested across different types of cancer.”

“If the early phase trial is successful the drug may…ultimately become a licenced product.”

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