New treatment shrinks lung cancer

Debbie Brewer hopes the treatment will be available on the NHS

A Plymouth woman with an incurable lung cancer has seen her tumour shrink by 83% after undergoing experimental treatment in Germany.

Debbie Brewer travelled to a clinic in Frankfurt after UK doctors said they could do nothing for her.

She had developed mesothelioma through contact with her father, an asbestos lagger at Devonport dockyard, when she was a child.

Charity Mesothelioma UK wants international trials of the procedure.

I hope I'm laying the foundations for treatment here Debbie Brewer

Mrs Brewer, 49, was diagnosed in November 2006 with mesothelioma, a lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

She was granted a six-figure compensation sum because her illness was caused by hugging her father and spent the money on treatment at The University Clinic in Frankfurt.

The treatment, known as chemoembolisation, introduces chemotherapy drugs which target arteries feeding the tumour.

Mrs Brewer told BBC News: "I just wanted it to stop growing, to give me a little time back.

"I never thought it would absolutely annihilate it."

Now she is supporting Mesothelioma UK to get the treatment on the NHS.

The charity is meeting politicians, doctors and researchers next week.

Mrs Brewer said: "I hope I'm laying the foundations for treatment here.

"It would be great to be rewarded with this coming for here for all those people who cannot afford it."

Advertisement

Her doctor in Germany appeared to be as surprised about the change as she was