Cervical cancer survivor shines a light on research helping more people beat the disease
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A cervical cancer survivor, who is now using her experiences to help guide new research into better treatments, is shining a spotlight on the progress being made to beat the disease.
Mum-of-two Sonia Dancer lost both her parents to cancer within months of each other and was stunned when she was then diagnosed with the disease herself, just two weeks after her mum’s funeral.
After experiencing months of unexplained bleeding, tests revealed Sonia, 47, from Fair Oak, had stage 3 cervical cancer and required surgery, chemotherapy and two types of radiotherapy to beat it.
Now, Sonia is highlighting how progress made by research is giving hope to future generations including her teenage daughter, Olivia.
Sonia said: “When I was diagnosed, everything in terms of cancer meant death in my family after losing my dad to thyroid cancer and then my mum to breast cancer, so it was really difficult telling the children who were just six and 10 at the time. But thankfully, I was able to receive treatments that were tough, but helped me get better.”
“Now, I’m not only reassured that my daughter will likely avoid going through what I went through thanks to having the HPV vaccine, I’m also a patient representative on a clinical trial for cervical cancer here in Southampton which aims to save more lives.”
Sonia’s way of ‘giving back’ to the research that helped save her life is by sharing her views as a cancer survivor with a team of researchers at the Cancer Research UK Southampton Clinical Trials Unit, working on a new treatment for cervical cancer.
The Cancer Research UK funded CRAIN trial* is testing a drug called tolinapant alongside combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, in the hope it will improve survival. The current standard of care in the UK is chemoradiotherapy, but around half of patients will suffer long-term side effects from the treatment, and approximately half will see their disease come back. Sadly, over a third of patients will not survive for more than five years after diagnosis.
Denise Dunkley, CRAIN Senior Trial Manager, SCTU, said: “As a result of the pandemic, we’re seeing more people receiving a diagnosis at a later stage and so there is still a need to find new treatments for people with cervical cancer.
“Cancer cells are very clever and find ways to adapt and hide themselves and avoid the normal cell death process called ‘apoptosis’. This means cells continue to grow uncontrollably and cause a tumour.
“Lab studies have shown that tolinapant works by blocking the activity of certain biological molecules (proteins) that help to keep cancer cells alive. These proteins are found at high levels in many types of cancer cells.
“Blocking the activity of these proteins can switch this cell death process back on and we hope that by adding this drug to the chemoradiotherapy, more cancer cells will be destroyed and more people will survive their cancer.”
The trial which launched in 2022 has just opened to recruitment at its sixth hospital. Each participant is given information that cancer survivors like Sonia have fed into, to ensure the patient’s views are represented.
Sonia said: “The chemoradiotherapy treatment I received was very tiring and much of it took place simultaneously, so it was very full on. Having been through that, I was keen to represent the patient voice when this trial launched.
“The CRAIN trial is so important in improving the treatments we currently have and increasing survival and it’s great to know you’re part of something that could help other patients.”
The CRAIN trial is led by Chief Investigator Peter Hoskin, Professor of Clinical Oncology at the University of Manchester and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust , and is run by the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit. You can find out more about the CRAIN trial here .
Around 3,300 people are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the UK each year**. Almost all cases are caused by HPV*** - a link Cancer Research UK scientists helped to prove around 25 years ago.
This discovery was a key step towards today’s vaccination programme and improved cervical cancer screening. It also led to the development of the HPV vaccine, which helps to prevent cancer by protecting against HPV.
When Sonia received a letter asking to give permission for her daughter, Olivia to receive the vaccine, it was an instant ‘yes’ from them both.
Olivia, 14, said, “I had it in Year 8 and lots of my friends were nervous about having it done and were scared of needles, but I was much more relaxed because I knew I didn’t want to go through what my mum went through.
“For me, it was just a prick in the arm and that was it. It was no big deal, but it gives me a level of protection from the kind of illness I saw my nan, grandad and mum go through.”
The HPV vaccination programme was first introduced for girls aged 12-13 in England in 2008. Since September 2019, the vaccine has also been available to boys of the same age. Anyone who missed their vaccine can request it up to the age of 25 by talking to their GP, school nurse or school immunisation team. The vaccine is also available to men who have sex with men and some transgender people up to the age of 45 through sexual health and HIV clinics.
Sonia, who works at a secondary school, also shares her story with students who may feel wary of the vaccine, so they can understand that if they protect themselves from HPV infection, they can prevent cell changes and reduce their risk of cancer.
Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson for Hampshire, Elisa Mitchell, said: “We’ve made huge leaps forward in cervical cancer that are saving and improving lives right now and we’re grateful to Sonia, Olivia and all those involved in the CRAIN trial for helping us shine a light on the impact Cancer Research UK has and continues to make every day.
“The HPV vaccination programme and cervical screening programme make us hopeful that cervical cancer will be reduced to a point where almost no one develops the disease. We want to see people in the UK and across the world sharing in this progress equally, regardless of who they are or where they’re from.
“Thanks to the generosity and commitment of our supporters, together, we are beating cancer.”