UK Mesothelioma Patients Demand Cutting Edge Treatment

A large number of UK citizens suffering from mesothelioma are demanding that the government pay for the cost of a cutting edge German treatment that could prolong their lives. This new treatment method is known as “chemoembolisation”, and works by injected cancer-fighting drugs directly into a tumor. The treatment is already in use in Germany, but UK health officials argue that the technique is too new and too untested for them to support.

One UK mesothelioma patient has undergone the treatment, and said that it has transformed his quality of life. Ron Bonfield, age 70, spent the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars out of his own pocket to undergo chemoembolisation. He is now in remission. However, he is still angered by the fact that he had to pay for his own treatment. “I’m quite upset, knowing that there is a treatment out there that can prolong my life, not just by months, but by years and also give me a quality of life. But [UK health officials] seem to bury their head in the sand and don’t want to know about it.”

Dawn Veal, a nurse, agrees with Ron. “It’s so frustrating really because chemoembolisation is actually used, the technique is used in hospitals in this country…But it’s used for liver cancer. The drugs are actually recognized by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, who audit medications in this country. So we have the drugs, we have the technique, what we need now is a trial to allow people to actually explore this technique for extension for life.”

Mesothelioma is caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. Generally speaking, the cancer lies dormant for many decades, but can cause death within months of the onset of symptoms. Geoffrey Cox, a member of Parliament, also supports Ron. “At the moment Ron Bonfield is not in need of treatment. His condition has stabilized and that is extraordinary for this cancer. All he wants is the certainty of knowing that should he need to resort to this treatment again [someone else] will finance it.”

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/politics_show/regions/south_west/8488303.stm