Skin cancer blood test trial ‘possibly saved my life’

A skin cancer patient who took part in a trial which used a blood test to help doctors decide on his treatment has said it possibly “saved my life”.

Doctors at The Christie Hospital in Manchester used a blood test to determine when José Sotorrio, 49, from Whalley Range, switched from targeted therapy to immunotherapy.

The test showed it was the “optimum time” to change, Mr Sotorrio said.

The Christie said the trial could help in “developing personalised treatment”.

The blood test can help doctors to determine which treatment to start with and when to switch drugs for patients with advanced melanoma.

The trial has shown the test is accurate enough to show real-time cancer responses to treatment.

Mr Sotorrio said: “Growing up in the 70s and 80s, it was normal for me to spend long days on the beach on summer holidays to Spain.

“I found a cancerous mole on my chest and had it removed in 2018 – but three years later, I noticed something under my arm and I was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma”.

He has taken part in the clinical trial using the blood test.

He said: “The blood test showed tumour levels in my blood had dropped by over 80% in just 28 days in response to targeted therapy.

“So doctors decided this was the optimum time to switch from the targeted therapy to immunotherapy.

“It’s possible the specific combination of treatments I had within this clinical trial has saved my life.”

Dr Rebecca Lee, a consultant oncologist and clinician scientist at The Christie, said: “We’re really pleased José has had a complete response to the treatment.

“He now has a very good chance that the melanoma will not come back.

“We now know we can use this blood test in patients as a tool to guide treatment, which will be important in developing personalised treatment strategies in the future”.