Blood cancer patient thanks medics for “keeping him alive”
17 December 2024
A young man who was diagnosed with an exceptionally hard-to-treat blood cancer has thanked specialists at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for saving his life.
A young man who was diagnosed with an exceptionally hard-to-treat blood cancer has thanked specialists at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for saving his life.
Josh Jackson, 30, who lives in Doncaster, went from “living his best life” to being “in total isolation on a ward” following a diagnosis of a highly aggressive type of leukaemia at the age of 27.
Previously fit and healthy, Josh, who would regularly travel the world as part of a busy job, describes his diagnosis as “hard to process”.
“I was in tears and my girlfriend was in tears,” he said, recalling the moment he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) with the FLT3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD), a particularly aggressive type of blood cancer which is associated with increased risk of relapse and poor overall survival.
“It was like having the rug pulled from under me. My life had been instantly turned upside down. My doctors were incredible and said they would do everything for me, but the stats were poor, and I was convinced I wouldn’t make it past Christmas.”
A cycle of chemotherapy put him into remission, but his healthy blood cells never recovered and he remained dependent on daily blood and platelet transfusions whilst doctors arranged for him to undergo a stem cell transplant.
Life-extending drug boosts survival and prevents relapse
Just before his transplant, he was dealt another blow when the biopsy results showed the cancer and genetic abnormalities causing it were present in his bone marrow.
The transplant from his younger brother went ahead, but his prior relapse and aggressive mutation meant his overall prognosis remained poor.
Specialists at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had been in involved monitoring the management and approval of a maintenance drug already used in patients with advanced kidney and liver cancer to see if it could boost survival and prevent relapse in patients with Josh’s specific blood cancer mutation.
Josh was given early access to the drug, which he took for an extended period following his transplant as a twice-daily tablet.
Three years cancer-free
Josh, who remains cancer-free and recently marked his three-year stem cell transplant anniversary, a milestone in AML survival outlook, said: “AML was historically a death sentence, and my genetics were the worst possible. Treating my GvHD has been quite intense, but the haematology team have kept me alive in every sense - not just the treatment, but the emotional support they give as well. I would not be here without them.
“I'm back full time in my Managing Director role now. I'm not able to travel abroad like I used to, and I've lost some of my independence, but I've found new ways to enjoy life and the advances in care will help others have a fighting chance too.”
Following data gathered by haematology centres across the UK, including Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the sorafenib maintenance drug is now recommended as a treatment option for adults with AML with the FLT3-ITD mutation undergoing an allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Dr Alexandros Kanellopoulos, Consultant Haematologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted to have played a leading role in bringing this life-extending drug to patients. Treatment options for AML have remained largely unchanged for the last 30 years, so it is great to see game-changing therapies coming on board. Sheffield also led the evaluation and monitoring of the treatment to inform policy-making decisions, owing to our significant expertise in the management and treatment of patients with blood cancers.”
ENDS
Photos: Josh with his wife this summer and having a blood transfusion when he was first admitted to hospital
