“I would not be stood here today if not for this treatment”
A grandad is celebrating a hard-earned victory after the “miracle” treatment that has given him a new lease of life was approved on the NHS. Paul Duckers, from Haughton, was diagnosed with the incurable blood cancer myeloma in February 2021, aged 69.
The diagnosis came after he experienced night sweats so “horrendous” he had to replace his bed. After his initial treatment failed to keep his cancer at bay for long, Paul was enrolled in a clinical trial for a new treatment known as BPD in October 2022.
He went into remission after his very first dose of the “miracle” treatment and more than three years on Paul is still doing well. Now, after a hard-fought campaign by blood cancer charity Myeloma UK, BPD has finally been approved on the NHS this month by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
NHS patients in England and Wales will be the first to have access to this treatment worldwide. “From my standpoint it’s a Godsend,” said Paul, now 73. “Up until the trial nothing had put me into remission. My wife calls it a miracle. I’ve had an extra three years and the side effects have not impacted my life. I would not be stood here today if not for this treatment.”
Myeloma affects over 33,000 people in the UK. Currently, only a little over half of myeloma patients survive their disease for five years or more. And just one in three people living with myeloma survive for 10 years or more. A ground-breaking treatment, BPD has been shown to stop myeloma in its tracks for an average of 32 months.
Dr Amy Capper, Policy Manager at blood cancer charity Myeloma UK, said: “We’ve been working extremely hard to get BPD approved for over a year now and we’re delighted that the voices of patients and the myeloma community have prevailed. BPD has the potential to be life-changing for many and we’ve already heard from people like Paul who had never been in remission until they were offered this treatment through clinical trials.”
Paul’s health took a turn in January 2021, when he started waking up drenched in sweat at night. He went to the GP and was told he likely had a viral infection which would pass in a few days. Far from easing up though his symptoms got worse.
“I started having these horrendous night sweats,” recalled Paul, who used to work as an operations director for a mechanical engineering firm. “I was not sweating like you would if you went jogging. It was as if someone was chucking a bucket of water over me. It soaked through the mattress and after I was diagnosed I had to get a new bed.
“The GP said it was a viral infection and it would go away after 10 days but it didn’t, so he said to give it another week. But I was still feeling horrible.” After some back and forth with his GP surgery he eventually convinced his doctor to order some blood tests. The results were so alarming, he was told to head to A&E right away for more tests.
Paul was diagnosed with myeloma a couple of days later. He said: “I had heard of other blood cancers like leukaemia or lymphoma, but not myeloma. It was during COVID, nobody could come and see me in the hospital. The first thing I did was get on my laptop and read up on it.”
Paul received chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant, but after 18 months, it became clear the treatment was not working as hoped. The grandfather-of-one later found out he had an especially aggressive form of myeloma. This means he is less likely to respond well to treatment or be in remission for long.
He said: “They told me I was ultra-high risk which worsens your prognosis. When I asked about life expectancy, they said it could vary quite considerably but based on the data it was between 20 and 30 months. I had already had 18 months at that point so I told myself, you’ve only got six months. My consultant told me there were other treatments I could try but he said he couldn’t promise anything.”
Following some difficult conversations, Paul signed up to a clinical trial for BPD in October 2022. The results were immediate: he went into remission after his first dose. “You get to a point where you wonder, is anything going to work? But when my consultant mentioned the trial, I said, ‘Look I’ll try anything’. After my first dose my cancer levels had come right back into normal range.”
Living with myeloma has taken a toll. Over the last few years, Paul has been prone to infection and was even hospitalised with sepsis. Managing some of the side effects of his latest treatment, including blurred vision, has also been a learning curve, but he is grateful for the precious time he’s gotten to spend with his family.
He added: “We’re a close family and my wife has been an absolute rock to me. We used to go on a couple of cruises a year but we can’t anymore because I’m at risk of infection. I have to be more cautious but other than that it’s not stopping me from doing things. I can still go for walks in the countryside.
“We’re going to a very nice Italian restaurant to celebrate my wife and my grandson’s birthdays – he is turning 26 in February. The treatment is working and the results have been extremely encouraging. Delighted isn’t a strong enough word to describe it.”
For more information about myeloma or to get in touch with Myeloma UK, go to www.myeloma.org.uk. Myeloma UK runs an Infoline on 0800 980 3332.
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