A woman who turned down chemotherapy for an aggressive cancer that has a high relapse rate is celebrating five years free of a disease that scientists say is “under-
researched”.
Margaret Martin was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma in 2016, a rare cancer that grows in the hollow organs of the body, including the intestines, stomach, bladder or uterus, in females.
One study suggests that it returns in 40 per cent of cases and the chances are highest in the first five years after treatment.
Scientists at Dundee University are carrying out the first UK study looking at how DNA damage leads to sarcoma, a group of poorly understood cancers affecting the bones or connective tissues in the body.
I feel very blessed to be in this position.
Current treatment for many sarcomas is limited and there are few options for patients who don’t respond to first line chemotherapy or present at a more advanced stage.
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Mrs Martin, who is from Clarkston near Glasgow, said she owes her life to a decision to “fast-track” her for investigative tests after she complained of stomach pains and a medical secretary who pushed her to cancel a holiday for surgery instead.
After undergoing blood tests, she was told there was a chance her symptoms could be cancer and she was advised to have a hysterectomy.
“I was 58 at the time, I was fit and healthy and I took care of myself,” said the 62-year-old. I really didn’t think at that point it was anything serious.
“I’m indebted to the gynaecologist’s secretary as she insisted I postponed planned holidays as it was important I had the surgery sooner rather than later, and it happened within a week.”
After 10 days recovering at home, Margaret received a call confirming she had cancer.
The tumour was encapsulated within her womb, and she was referred to Glasgow’s Beatson centre for a further CT scan to ensure the cancer hadn’t already spread. She was told it hadn’t but was offered a place on a six-month chemotherapy trial.
However she declined to have the treatment, instead opting for diet and lifestyle changes but says she pushed for three-monthly scans, after speaking to others affected by the disease.
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She said: “I read up on it and learned sarcoma doesn’t respond so well to chemotherapy as other cancers do.
“As there was no active cancer in my body at that time, I declined the treatment and focused on getting myself fit and well through lifestyle and diet changes
“It’s such a rare cancer, but I found the advice I was given from others living with the disease through Facebook support groups so helpful and reassuring.
“They encouraged me to keep on top of my treatment as the recurrence rate of sarcoma, particularly within the first 18 months is very high.
" I pushed for three-monthly CT scans in that period, as the signs of recurrence are so vague and thankfully each has shown no evidence of the disease.
“The further I get from my diagnosis the more optimistic I am and I feel very blessed to be in this position.”
Mrs Martin said she had lost “three good friends” she met through sarcoma support groups since she was diagnosed.
Professor Kevin Hiom, of Dundee University, who is involved in the first research project of its kind into sarcoma, says there is a balance to be struck for patients and clinicians when considering chemotherapy.
He said: “Most cancer treatments are quite dangerous for patients so you don’t want to cause any further damage.”
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Prof Hiom has been awarded £190,514 by Worldwide Cancer Research, to try to find out if damage to DNA previously identified in Ewing Sarcoma, a type that affects children, is also present in other forms of sarcoma.
The inability to properly repair DNA damage is common to many of the 200 different diseases that make up cancer.
He said: “We want to try to find treatments which are less brutal for patients because some of the chemotherapy is really very harsh and secondly to find treatments that could work for patients who don’t respond to first line chemotherapy.”
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