A woman diagnosed with a deadly bile duct cancer has credited a new experimental drug for keeping her alive.
Carol Hardy is taking part in a clinical trial at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust and doctors hope the drug could be used to treat a range of cancers. The tablets - known only as RXC004 - contain a compound that blocks a pathway known to be over-activated in bile duct cancer.
So far, the treatment is working and has shrunk Carol's tumour to just over a fifth of its original size. The 65-year-old hails from Penrith in Cumbria and discovered she had bile duct cancer by chance after suffering gallstones and was unexpectedly losing weight.