Mum with 25 brain tumours told she had just six months to live ‘finds cure on the internet’ — and is symptom-free
A MUM who was told she had just six months to live has found her own cancer “cure” on the internet — and is now symptom free.
Heidi Spencer turned detective after 25 tumours were discovered in her brain.
The NHS could only offer her palliative chemotherapy to give her extra time with sons William, seven, and Lewis, four.
But Heidi, 45, defied the docs and took a ground-breaking new test to pinpoint exactly which drugs would work best for her.
Within three months her brain tumours had vanished — and the tumours in her bones and lung are in remission or have shrunk.
Heidi, a business analyst, told The Sun: “If I’d relied on NHS advice and their standard of care I would be dead now.”
Her nightmare started on Mother’s Day last year when her right leg went numb. Tests revealed stage four lung cancer that had spread to her brain and bones.
After being told she had six to 12 months to live, she went online and read about FoundationOne, a US test that costs £3,000.
She eventually got it for free via a trial at The Christie — the UK’s leading cancer treatment centre in Withington, Manchester.
The clinic, which treated comedian Caroline Aherne, Wolves keeper Carl Ikeme and Corrie star Sally Dynevor, found five of Heidi’s genes had mutated. Of these, two have treatments available.
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She was given the drugs as well as targeted radiotherapy. They are not a cure but her cancer is under control and she has no outward signs of the disease.
Heidi, who lives with her engineer husband David, 39, and their boys in Burland, Cheshire, said: “I owe my life to those tests and to not always listening to the doctors.”
But her consultant at The Christie, Matthew Krebs, warned: “We have to be reserved when delivering advice to patients — as not everyone will benefit.”
How it works
THE FoundationOne tests look at which genes have mutated to cause a patient’s cancer.
A blood sample or tumour biopsy is sent to the lab — which examines 324 genes in the cells. By identifying the ones driving the disease, medics can choose therapies most likely to kill the cancer.
Companies are in talks with the NHS about bringing the detailed testing here.
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