Revolutionary therapy cures patient’s ‘terminal’ cancer
When former royalty protection officer Allan Peters was diagnosed with terminal stage 4b cancer, he set to work putting his affairs in order and arranging his own funeral.
He even received a letter of condolence from his former employer, the newly crowned King Charles.
Two years later, Allan is now totally cancer free. He was one of the first patients to receive a revolutionary new treatment, called CAR T cell therapy, at University Hospital Southampton (UHS).
One of the first patients
Allan, 76, from Sturminster Newton in Dorset was told there was no cure when he was diagnosed. Then he became one of the first five patients to have CAR T cell therapy in Southampton.
CAR T cell therapy uses a patient’s own modified immune cells to kill off their cancer. In 2023, UHS became the first hospital in the South East to offer it to patients.
This was possible partly due to UHS’s involvement in research into the ground-breaking treatment. This continues today through the Southampton Emerging Therapies and Technologies (SETT) Centre.
A royal letter
Allan was diagnosed with stage 4b diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph glands, in 2022. It was advanced, and had spread to form lesions on his bones.
Shortly afterwards, Allan received a letter from King Charles, who had been informed by a mutual friend. Allan was one of the then Prince of Wales’ Personal Protection Officers (PPOs) from 1979 to 1981, when he became Princess Diana’s PPO for the next nine years.
In his letter, the King expressed his concern and sent his best wishes. “It shows you the kind of thoughtful and caring man our King is, to have taken the time to write to me,” said Allan.
Following the news that King Charles also has cancer, Allan wrote to him and received acknowledgement from Buckingham Palace that the King received his letter.
“The King was really kind and sent me such a lovely letter when he heard I was ill, so it was really good to be able to send him the before and after scan images of my condition,” said Allan. “It looked like the end of the story for me, but now I am in complete remission.
His story has now been featured in a new three-part documentary, filmed with the late Dr Michael Mosley shortly before the television doctor's untimely death in June.
‘Wonders of the Human Body’ was shown on Channel 5 at 8pm on Thursday 22 August.
‘Miracle cure’
Allan’s initial symptoms were nausea, weight loss, tiredness, and an abdominal mass. A scan showed this to be widespread lymphoma in his abdomen. He immediately began chemotherapy, with partial success.
He was then accepted as the fifth patient to have CAR T cell therapy, which he underwent in 2023. It is proven to be effective in killing some blood cancers, but not all patients are suitable.
Sean Lim, Professor of Haematology at the University of Southampton's Centre for Cancer Immunology, works on developing new immunotherapies such as this.
“CAR T cell therapy enables T cells, a type of white blood cell, to recognise cancer cells and attack them,” she said. “This involves collecting a patient’s T cells, and modifying them so that they can recognise the cancer cells. The modified T cells are then reinfused into the patient so that they can kill the cancer cells.”
After Allan received his modified T cells, he stayed in hospital for five weeks, as the therapy makes patients susceptible to infection. At the end of this, a PET scan showed Allan was completely cancer free, and remained so at follow-up scans three and six months later.
“I was under no illusions at any stage what the treatment would be like,” said Allan. “I was exceptionally tired and felt very ill, but only for a matter of weeks. I am so grateful to the medical teams that made this happen – it really is like a miracle cure.”
Image credits: All photos courtesy of Allan Peters and the University of Southampton.