Impact Report 2023

A SPORTING THANK YOU

When Lee Young, a garage owner from Denton in east Manchester was diagnosed with cancer of the unknown primary (CUP), doctors told him that if he’d been diagnosed a few years ago, there would have been no treatment options for him.

CUP can be difficult to treat because, although doctors find a secondary tumour, they can’t find the primary one. As a result, people diagnosed with CUP often have a poor prognosis. Despite making up approximately 2% of all new cancer cases, CUP accounts for 6% of all cancer deaths. A scan revealed an 8.5cm-long tumour near Lee’s kidneys but fortunately he met the criteria for a clinical trial at The Christie. After three rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, Lee’s tumour shrunk by over half. It was then he and his daughter Aleisha decided they

wanted to fundraise for The Christie Charity and to raise awareness of his cancer and clinical trials. Lee said: “The doctors and nurses at The Christie are fantastic. I feel very comfortable there, knowing I’m at the best place in the world for treatment. I can’t thank everybody enough - that’s why my daughter and I decided to raise money by running the Manchester half marathon because of the fantastic care they are giving me.” The clinical trial worked so well that Lee was fit enough to run the half marathon during treatment with Aleisha, and together they raised £6,500.

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