Penile cancer medical trial 'gave me two more years'

A man who was the first to take part in a medical trial for penile cancer says it may have extended his life by two years.

Eddie Baker, 83, was given immunotherapy alongside the usual treatment of chemotherapy as part of the clinical trial, named EPIC.

The treatment was found to have extended the predicted lifespans of more than half of the participants in the study, which was carried out by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.

Mr Baker, from Yate, South Gloucestershire, said: "All I can say is, it is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me because I know if I hadn't had that, I would not be on this planet to this day."

Using immunotherapy to treat cancer is still considered by doctors to be a relatively new approach.

But more than 60 per cent of the patients in the trial, who all had advanced penile cancer, were found to have had a clinical benefit.

Among these patients, predicted lifespans increased to 15 months on average.

Professor Bahl said: "Our aim is to improve outcomes in this rare cancer, which has limited treatment options.

"Penile cancer can be a very aggressive disease, but this study shows we might be able to give men a little more time.

"Penile cancer is rare, and it usually presents externally first, so when patients are diagnosed, early treatments which can cure the cancer are possible."

The trial has proved so successful that Professor Bahl is now planning to start another trial to give immunotherapy at an earlier stage of the disease, in the hope that it will improve cure rates.