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Mother with leukaemia given hope by daughter's cancer-busting cells
Emma Rowley12 Aug 2009
A mother who was terminally ill with cancer has been given a chance of life after undergoing revolutionary treatment involving a donation of cells from her daughter.
Fashion designer Joanne Scott, 54, is now in remission after being given cancer-fighting cells provided by her 22-year-old daughter Tara.
Doctors hope the therapy, developed at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, could revolutionise cancer treatment.
Ms Scott, from Kentish Town, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia and had relapsed after five rounds of chemotherapy.
The pioneering therapy involves taking "natural killer" cells from the donor, activating them in a laboratory and transplanting them into the patient's body. They then multiply and attack the cancer.
Doctors hope the treatment may be used in mainstream medicine within five years and possibly extended to solid tumours such as breast and ovarian cancer.
Ms Scott became the first person in the world to undergo a clinical trial of the treatment last year after doctors were unable to find a bone marrow match for her.
She said: "When I survived the transfer of cells the doctor looked amazed and relieved.
"I knew it had never been done before so I suppose I might not have survived but I always felt positive. It's still a little scary as my previous treatments tended to last a year before I relapsed, yet I feel fine and hopeful."
Tara spent three hours hooked up to a machine taking her blood.
Ms Scott said: "Tara was marvellous because she has a needle phobia and ended up passing out afterwards. She stayed overnight in hospital in the same ward as me, and then we went home."
Tara, who works with her mother at online fashion company Tara Starlet, said that before the cells were taken she "lived like a monk" to boost her health.
"I felt if I ate one wrong thing or had one glass of wine it would affect my cells and then it would be my fault if something went wrong," she said. "Before I felt like it was the last chance saloon but when I could help I felt like I was part of mum's battle."
Dr Mark Lowdell, an honorary consultant immunologist, first came up with the treatment.
He realised that although advanced leukaemia patients' "natural killer" cells have stopped working, fresh cells transplanted from a healthy related donor could boost the immune system.
He said of the technique: "We aim to continue testing over the next three to five years to find the most appropriate point in the treatment chain to use it.
"So far it has been used on patients who have failed everything but we're trying to get enough data to see if others could benefit."
Two other patients were given the "natural killer" treatment in January and are said to be doing well. Doctors plan to recruit a further 12 patients to extend the clinical trial.
