"IF someone had told me when I was diagnosed that I'd be feeling this way, and in remission, I'd have bitten their hand off," said Allan McLean.

The 48-year-old civil servant from Cumbernauld in Lanarkshire was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in December 2020.

He started chemotherapy a few weeks later but it was quickly apparent that it was having no effect, and he was switched onto a modified treatment regime.

By June 2021, there were signs of improvement - but an area of active lymphoma remained, and scans soon showed the cancer progressing once again.

Mr McLean resumed chemotherapy, undergoing three cycles at highly toxic doses.

"The hope was that that would have solved the issue, but it didn't," he said.

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The lymphoma had become resistant to chemotherapy.

With options all but exhausted, Mr McLean's consultant put him forward as a potential candidate for CAR-T therapy at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).

In December 2021, with the referral accepted, he had his bloods taken and in February returned to the hospital to receive a transplant of specially-tailored T cells.

He said: "It's quite remarkable how small it was and how little it took, and then I actually did very well.

"Although there can be serious side effects for some people, I did very well on it - I had a week or so of fevers and chills, but nothing too dramatic.

"Then a couple of months ago they did a three-month scan, and they found out that the CAR-T had put me into full remission, which was beyond fantastic.

"With cancer the possibility of relapse is always there, but now I'm in a position where it's a possibility rather than almost a certainty. That's a wonderful gift."

Mr McLean is back to working-from-home three days a week, and spending weekends enjoying life with his wife "without the terrible pressure we were under for the previous 18 months".

He added: "Even if this had happened five years ago, having gone through two rounds of chemo the outlook wouldn't have been very good at all.

"So for it to have worked so well, I feel very grateful."

The Herald: Ross Stirling-Young (left) with husband, RaymondRoss Stirling-Young (left) with husband, Raymond

The relief is echoed by Ross Stirling-Young, from Cowdenbeath in Fife, who was first diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin's lymphoma aged 29 in 2010.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy appeared to have been successful, but in 2017 the disease returned and he underwent a stem cell transplant.

In 2020, the lymphoma relapsed for a second time - this time developing in his spine.

In March 2021, following emergency radiotherapy to shrink the cancer, Mr Stirling-Young underwent CAR-T therapy at the QEUH where he suffered complications including cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity.

He said: "I thought I worked for B&Q, and I was trying to find the number for B&Q to tell them I wouldn't be in work. I've never worked for B&Q in my life, so it's quite funny looking back.

"But it was the worst I've ever felt in my life."

Mr Stirling-Young, who lost his own father to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was given the all-clear six months after treatment ended.

"The tumour had disappeared," he said.

"From then on, it's just been about getting my life back on track."

Now 41, Mr Stirling-Young quit his career as a college lecturer and in August 2021 began training to be a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church.

He said: "It's been one of the best years of my life. I just thought 'life is too short'.

"I try to think of every day as a bonus and not think too far ahead, but if I hadn't had [CAR-T] I wouldn't be here today, that's for sure."