Woman Campaigns for UK Chemoembolisation Trials After Successful Treatment

In November 2006, Debbie Brewer was diagnosed with mesothelioma and given six to nine months to live. Brewer who made headlines for winning compensation from second hand exposure caused by "hugging her father" decided to try an emerging form of treatment and so far it has been successful.

Brewer decided to try an experimental treatment in Germany called chemoembolisation. The procedure involves delivering chemotherapy drugs directly to the tumor through a catheter inserted into the body. Recently it has a common treatment patients with liver cancer but has not been widely used to treat mesothelioma.

Brewer has been told that her tumor shrunk by more than 50 percent and is in remission. Following her successful treatment she has begun a lobbying campaign to bring the treatment into clinical trials in the UK. The treatment itself costs around £3,500 per session which may hurt its ability to enter trials.