Miriam Staunton is now advocating for other patients to get the treatment they need
Miriam Staunton, from Templeogue, Dublin, found a lump under her arm and the immediate suspicion was that it might be breast cancer.
However, on further diagnosis, the former mechanical engineer from Templeogue, Dublin discovered it was melanoma skin cancer and doctors could not find the source of where it came from.
“That was in 2018 and it was already stage three. I had no lesions on my skin. It happens in about 5pc of cases,” she said.
She went on to have surgery and some radiotherapy.
I have no evidence of active disease since April 2020
“At that point there were no systemic treatments available. I went on to a surveillance programme where I was scanned every three months for progression of disease. Unfortunately, it progressed to stage four.
“Ironically, that opened up access to treatment for me. I was able to get a new immunotherapy medication at that point in 2019 and went on a course that finished in 2021.
“I have no evidence of active disease since April 2020.”
Ms Staunton had no access to drug trials, in which patients take new medications on an experimental basis, but her experience has now made her a patient advocate in this area for others.
“Early-phase trials are so important for Irish cancer patients,” she said.
“They offer an opportunity for patients who have been failed by the existing available treatments as well as feeding a pipeline of later-phase trial activity for a larger cohort of patients.
“Those of us who are the beneficiaries of the recent huge strides in cancer treatments know how important it is to support ongoing research and development of new treatments.”
The Mater Hospital
Ms Staunton was speaking at the opening of a dedicated unit in the Mater Hospital, Dublin, where a programme named Start is under way, offering patients with advanced cancer the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research and enhance the availability of new cancer drugs.
Start is the largest early-phase oncology clinical trials network in the world. Dublin is the eighth site to join.
It will give Irish patients with advanced cancer access to promising new drugs through experimental trials.
Consultant oncologist Dr Austin Duffy, who is the director of research and principal investigator at Start Dublin, said: “About 30,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year in Ireland, many of whom will at some point need access to new breakthrough cancer drugs as they emerge.
“Now that we have an early-phase oncology clinical trials unit here in Dublin, we hope to offer patients access to new and promising drugs years before they might otherwise become available.”
He will be supported initially by a team of seven others in Start Dublin and they hope to enrol about 50 patients into trials within the first year of operations, rising to 300 patients in due course.
The facility is supported by a strong referral network of 70 oncologists and serves about 2,750 new patients annually.
