David Bateson, a father-of-three from Bedfordshire who was diagnosed with stage 4 skin cancer which spread to his major organs, is now living with 'no evidence of cancer' in his body, after pioneering treatment at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
Watch David's story
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nMmslF9F9s
“The chances are I wouldn’t be here today, if it wasn’t for people researching and developing new drugs to fight cancer and I think the new cancer hospital planned for Cambridge, is going to take that to another level.”
David
David was 44 years old when he was first diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer in December 2019.
The father-of-three from Ampthill had an operation to remove a lesion that had appeared on the crown of his head, but unfortunately his cancer returned the following year.
David needed surgery to remove his lymph nodes from his neck, followed by radiotherapy. He was then referred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge for specialist cancer care and was prescribed a course of immunotherapy, a type of cancer treatment that helps the body detect and attack its own cancer cells, to try and stop his cancer coming back.
But it was in August 2021 and on David’s birthday, he received the news his cancer had returned again, it was Stage 4 and had since spread to his liver, lungs and spine.
“I was just devastated. I almost accepted that I was going to die of cancer,” said David.
Describing what it was like to be told he had stage 4 cancer that had spread to his major organs, David said the hardest thing was worrying about what would happen to his family - his wife, Lisa, a community nurse, and their children; George, 22, Jack, 19, and Grace, 17.
“Having kids is the best feeling in the world. When they are born, the feeling you have is unbelievable. I didn’t want to not be there for them, I kept thinking about all the things I would miss. Things like walking Grace down the aisle.”
“I had to normalise my disease and my prognosis with the family. It was so important that as a Dad, I had to try and create the best environment possible, from what was really a bad situation.”
David’s consultant, Dr Pippa Corrie, a clinical oncologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, then intensified David’s treatment with a new course of combination immunotherapy, that was combining two drugs to help kick-start his immune system to fight the cancer. After two years of the pioneering treatment, David was told in January 2024, he was in remission and there was no trace of cancer in his body.
“To go from having a progressive disease, to a stabilised disease, to now having no evidence of the disease, over a four-year-period, is just unbelievable,” said David.
“To think without that drug, I wouldn’t be here now. I just feel so lucky.”
This turnaround has inspired David to raise money for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) and volunteer his time to support the plans for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.
David is now a member of Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital’s Patient Advisory Group (PAG), a group of current and former patients using their lived experience to help design and shape the build, to make sure the new specialist cancer facility for the East of England will provide the best care to meet everyone’s needs.
He set himself the goal of raising £500 during his immunotherapy treatment, but has since smashed this goal, going on to raise a staggering £50,000, going towards the planned cancer hospital.
David’s consultant and oncologist, Dr Pippa Corrie, said:
“I am very excited to have a dedicated Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, which will help more people like David.
“By bringing together excellent clinicians and scientists, we can integrate research with standard, routine care. This will enable us to focus on our patients and bring state-of the art research to them, so they can access the best cancer treatments, as quickly as possible.”