The Christie NHS FT Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20

treatment that boosts the body's natural defences to fight cancer.

target, reducing the number of days taken from 61 days in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 to 25 days in the third quarter of 2019-20 against a target of 40 days. In clinical trial delivery, the recruitment to the time and target performance measure increased from 63% in the third quarter of 2018-19 to 70% in the third quarter of 2019/20. We remain in the top 5% of all NHS Trusts for the number of studies opened during the second quarter of 2019/20 and the top 3% of all NHS Trusts for commercial studies closed during the period. The division achieved a 10% increase in academic publications during 2019/20, with 105 academic papers published in high impact journals. In multiple clinical trials, The Christie has recruited the first global and UK patients and been the top UK and global recruiter. High impact patient case studies Geoff Pritchard Geoff Pritchard, 71, from North Wales discovered he had cancer of the mouth in 2016 and underwent radical surgery followed by radiotherapy that summer. In March 2017 he learnt the cancer had returned. He was referred to The Christie for a clinical trial when the treatment he was receiving locally wasn’t working. In August 2017 he made the 120 mile round trip to Manchester to be assessed to see if he was eligible to try a new treatment in the hope it might be the cure he so desperately needed. By then Mr Pritchard had tumours all over his face and they were doubling in size every week and he was very unwell. At the end of September his condition had worsened further, and with no other standard treatment available, arrangements were made to admit him to a local hospice. Before he was discharged from The Christie he had been treated intravenously with a new immunotherapy drug, a

Incredibly once at the hospice his tumours started to shrink and within a couple of weeks he was sitting up in bed and feeling considerably better. By November 2017 the lower part of his face had healed and wasn’t showing any signs of cancer. He was discharged from the hospice and headed home for Christmas. He was able to then restart the treatment and continued to receive the drug for a year, finishing his treatment in August 2018. He has now been cancer free for more than 12 months. Dr Robert Metcalf, specialising in head and neck cancers said: “I am so pleased for Geoff and his family. We gave him one dose of a new drug, but initially the cancer was growing so quickly that he continued to rapidly deteriorate and he moved to the hospice. Against all the odds he has made a dramatic turnaround and is now disease free. We are keeping a close eye on him but there are no signs of the cancer recurring.” Commenting on his recovery Geoff said: “I feel so lucky. It really is a miracle. I’m clear of the cancer and I now have a new lease of life. To think I was so close to death and now I am able to enjoy life again. My family were even planning my funeral and my wife, Tina, had bought suits for our sons. If it wasn’t for the clinical trials team at The Christie I wouldn’t be here. All the staff have been absolutely incredible.” Kadiatou Diallo Kadiatou Diallo, aged 36, who was suffering from cancer and close to death, has seen an 87% reduction in her tumours as a result of a clinical trial at The Christie. The mother of four who lives in Beeston in Leeds, was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in 2016, just after the birth of her fourth son. After a year in remission the cancer returned in 2018 it had spread to the pancreas. By the end of 2018 she had lost two and half

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