Man first in Europe to trial new antibody drug for prostate cancer

By Lauren Beavis

A Brit has become the first patient in Europe to trial a pioneering antibody drug that "attaches" to cancer cells.

Brian Holmes, 70, has suffered from metastatic prostate cancer for two years and has exhausted all traditional lines of treatment.

But the pensioner has now become only the fifth human in the world, and the first in Europe, to receive a new drug he hopes will extend his life as part of a clinical trial.

The hospital said the trial is for an antibody drug conjugate and it did not yet have access to any drugs in this class for prostate cancer outside of clinical trials.

The infusion took place last Wednesday (11 March) at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon, with the Oncology Research team.

Brian said: “I can’t believe I’ve been given the opportunity to do this.

"It’s amazing, not just for me and potentially extending my life, but also for the hundreds, if not thousands of lives that this could have the potential to save.”

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust said the trial is testing an ‘antibody drug conjugate’ - a type of targeted cancer therapy.

These drugs “combine monoclonal antibodies with chemotherapy agents via a chemical linker”.

They are designed to attach to cancer cells and deliver treatment directly, while reducing damage to healthy tissue.

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Derriford Hospital said the name of the drug and its manufacturer cannot be named due to research protocols, but doctors have said the drug had proven to be effective previously against breast and bladder cancer.

The trial is being overseen by Dr Dominique Parslow, consultant clinical oncologist (Uro-oncology and HPB), Amanda Hind, Oncology Staff Nurse, and Helen Smith, Research nurse specialist at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.

Dr Dominique said the trail is the result of a "very long journey".

She said: “It’s been a very long journey to get to today, it’s very difficult to get trial slots to put patients onto treatment, but it’s such a great opportunity for our local patients to get a new treatment that we have a lot of hope for.”

Brian said that he feels privileged to be a part of the trial - which has given him the "strength" to continue his fight against cancer.

He added: “This is a rare opportunity for me personally, this is my only hope to extend my life by any real period at all.

"The potential of this new treatment is enormous, and being selected for this trial has given me the strength to carry on the fight.

"It would have been around two years ago now that I was diagnosed with prostate cancer"

"We've tried various treatments ranging from hormone therapy - which had some phenomenal results initially but then decided that was probably not going to be the case long term.

"Then we tried rounds of chemotherapy to help remove some of the infection in the bones as well where it had spread to.

"I can't believe I've actually been given the opportunity to do this trial"