A life-long smoker who had his first cigarette aged 10 is taking part in revolutionary cancer treatment trial.
Andy Hickinbotton began experiencing dizzy spells and tiredness while at work and out with friends in 2020.
After seeking medical advice, he was sent for X-rays which revealed cancerous tumours in one of his lungs, and doctors gave him the devastating news the disease was very advanced, and inoperable.
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But doctors were able to offer Andy, from Runcorn, a pioneering new treatment that could ease his symptoms and prolong his life.
In October 2020 he was offered the chance to become the first patient on the “Checkmate” clinical research trial at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool.
Andy embarked on a 14-month course of standard chemotherapy and radiation treatment but combined with pioneering immunotherapy, which uses the body’s own immune system to suppress the cancer.
Ahead of ringing the bell to mark the completion of his treatment he said: “I didn’t think I’d be around to see this.”
Andy, who was one of the first people in the UK to have the treatment, said: “I had nothing to lose.
“When you are told it is terminal, it hits you hard. But I knew going on the trial would give me a better chance.”
Since Andy began participating in Checkmate, more lung cancer patients have joined the trial and The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre was recently named as the largest recruiter for the study in Western Europe.
Andy quit smoking in the wake of his diagnosis, ending a half-century habit that at one point saw him smoking up to 40 cigarettes a day.
He said: “I gave up 14 months ago and won’t go back to them.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’d love one – but I don’t think I could actually smoke one anyway.
“I can’t stand the smell. I’ve done without them for 14 months and I’ll stay that way.”
Andy said he is looking forward to going out on day trips and seeing his friends, including at Halton Royal British Legion in Halton Village.
Andy worked in physical jobs all his life, including as a roofer and scaffolder, and he said he might even go back to work.
Andy said: “I know the cancer won’t go away, but you can go for years with cancer before it gets you – and the treatment on this clinical trial has helped that.
“When I was first told about my lung cancer, I thought I’d be dead by now – but I’m not – and I plan to be around a good while yet.
“But when you go on a clinical trial, you also know you are helping other people who get lung cancer in the future, even if it doesn’t help me."
Dr Anoop Haridass, consultant in clinical oncology at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and lead clinician of this Checkmate clinical research trial, said: “We are very grateful to Andy for joining this study, which will help lung cancer patients going forward.
“This study allows us to combine immunotherapy, which has revolutionised advanced lung cancer treatment, with curative chemotherapy and radiation treatment in advanced lung cancer and has the potential to help the majority of lung cancer patients who have inoperable cancers and giving some of these patients a greater possibility of a cure.
“We are very proud that Clatterbridge is the highest recruiter in Western Europe for the Checkmate study and I would like to thank all the patients and staff who work on it for their hard work.”
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