Banbury newlywed who lost husband supports new life-saving cancer research

Clare Kirby is supporting the new OptiMATe clinical trial funded by Stand Up To Cancer at the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit after her husband Martin, 40, passed away as a result of a rare type of lymphoma of the central nervous system on September 19.

The aim of the research is to help the 30 per cent of patients like Martin who had previously been cleared but the cancer returned or are unresponsive to their current treatment.

Clare said: “I wouldn’t wish what we’ve been through for the past two years on anyone. I’m so pleased this research and this trial for this rare type of cancer is happening and more people need to know about it.”

The trial, which has been awarded over £1 million by Stand Up To Cancer, will open to patients diagnosed with lymphoma of the central nervous system next month.

Scientists at the trials unit hope that by optimising a treatment used in a previous trial that was effective in 70 per cent of patients, the remaining 30 pet cent can also achieve long-term survival.

It’s hoped people will respond better to the adjusted doses and timings of their chemotherapy and immunotherapy, followed by a stem cell transplant.

Martin who shared children Oscar, 14, Skye, 12, Ezra, 4 and Lewis, 22, with Clare, had previously maintained a healthy lifestyle and used to coach Oscar’s football team regularly before showing signs of being unwell at Christmas 2020.

Clare said: “On Christmas Day and Boxing Day he was absolutely fine but on December 27, he woke up with what he thought was a hangover and gradually started deteriorating.

"When things didn’t improve a few days later, doctors sent him to the hospital for an MRI and a CT scan.

“They initially thought he’d had a mini stroke but then called him in for further tests which identified a lesion on his brain. The medical staff thought it was caused by an autoimmune disease and sent him home with a course of steroids. But by mid-February, he couldn’t even climb our stairs, had begun choking on food and his breathing was erratic.

“He continued to deteriorate and before long they had fitted a tracheostomy to help him breathe. At one point, he had a large bleed from it and it was touch and go for a while as he was placed on a ventilator and put in intensive care.

Neurologists explained that Martin had lymphoma of the central nervous system. Because the lymphatic system runs throughout your whole body, you can get lymphoma almost anywhere, including the brain and the spinal cord.

Doctors advised Martin to undergo treatment, including chemotherapy and targeted therapy, which began to work and and by July, scans showed no active lymphoma.

However, Martin’s condition began to deteriorate again and towards the end of July, an MRI revealed the cancer had come back and was this time was incurable.

Radiotherapy prolonged Martin’s life to enable the couple to get married on August 17 this year.

Clare said: “My sister-in-law did my hair, my niece did my make-up and Martin’s parents were witnesses as we could only have two people there. We set up a video call for everyone and after a little time together, I went back to the kids and we celebrated with a McDonalds.

“I could see he was so happy to be in our home but he was so poorly and only able to communicate through blinking. Four weeks later his feed was withdrawn but he fought for another month until he passed away peacefully on September 19.

“We had so many plans for the future with our children but they are things we’ll never get to do now."