DIAGNOSTIC TOOL HELPED MUM IN HER TREATMENT FOR ILLNESS

A NEW kind of blood test that can detect tiny fragments of a cancer tumour helped give a mum with stage four cancer "her life back".

- By SAM VOLPE

The test - known as a “liquid biopsy” - has been piloted by staff from the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust and is now being rolled out across the NHS.

This will see the NHS become the first health service worldwide to run a programme on this scale.

Rebeca Proctor, 40, has non-small-cell lung cancer and was one of the patients to be diagnosed. The Carlisle mum has stage four cancer, but because the new test allows medics to offer incredibly precise treatment for the cancer she has - it was able to identify a specific gene mutation - it has “given her her life back” she said.

Rebeca said: “When I found out I had stage four cancer it felt like I'd been punched in the gut, I was scared - I just thought about my children, and if I would get to see my little girl start nursery, and how I would explain my diagnosis to my children - it was just heartbreaking to think about.

“But the medication has given me my life back and my kids have got their mum back - I’m taking it day by day and for now the treatment is doing what it’s meant to be doing and shrinking the tumour, and I've got my energy back.