Jersey man advocates new form of cancer treatment

A man from Jersey hopes to raise awareness of a new form of cancer treatment, after becoming one of the first people to receive it.

The treatment, known as CAR-T, involves reprogramming the patient's own immune system to attack their cancer.

Colin Solomon, who now lives in Normandy, had the therapy in Paris in 2019 after being diagnosed with lymphoma.

He has urged anybody with health concerns to seek prompt medical help.

CAR-T works by removing a type of immune system cell, called a T cell, from the patient's blood.

Those cells are then genetically modified in a laboratory to make them more effective at targeting cancer cells, multiplied, and infused back into the patient drop by drop.

Although it can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds per patient, the treatment has been available on the NHS, subject to strict eligibility criteria, since 2018.

Three patients from Jersey have subsequently gone through CAR-T therapy in UK hospitals.

As a French resident, Mr Solomon was offered CAR-T through a trial taking place in Paris via the French Health Service, after 14 cycles of three different types of chemotherapy had proved unsuccessful.

"CAR-T was frankly a hope at the end of a long period when there wasn't that much hope," he said.

"Part of the approval was I was young - I was 55 at the time - therefore, the investment in me was worth making, because it could add phenomenally to my life expectancy.

"At that time, 2019, this was still quite experimental."

Mr Solomon's T cells were flown to be adapted in a lab in the USA, before they were sent back to Paris.

He said: "I had a view of the Eiffel Tower, in a private room, for two weeks while they put my T-cells back in.

"That didn't go swimmingly: twice, they were concerned about an adverse reaction, an infection, so I woke up twice to find people in white coats looking down at me, being quite concerned.

"But after the end of the third week they allowed me back to home."

And now, almost four years later, Mr Solomon remains in remission.

"I have to report any symptoms, anything adverse, but if I remain in remission for five years, then I am cured.

"At the moment I just feel well, I'm back doing all of the active things I did before."

Reflecting on his experiences, Mr Solomon said that he felt incredibly relieved and grateful.

He expressed hope CAR-T therapy might in the future help other people with a variety of illnesses.

"If you have any concerns as to what your body is doing, anything that might be symptomatic of cancer, go straight away to a medical practitioner," he said.

"Don't wait, don't put it off. Do something about it."

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