First UK patient trials new therapy at Clatterbridge to tackle rare cancer-related disease
Friday, 23 May 2025
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is pioneering an experimental new therapy designed to tackle a debilitating disease that some cancer patients develop through life-saving treatment.
The Liverpool hospital is treating the first person in the UK with a potentially game-changing new therapy designed to combat Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) – where white blood cells from bone marrow or stem cell transplants attack the patient’s own body.
Patient Paul Kyte is hoping the INCA34176-254 clinical trial at Clatterbridge can combat the GVHD which has hampered his return to health after a stem cell transplant to treat a rare type of leukaemia.
Paul is determined to relaunch his brand photography business after he was forced to close it when he was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a blood cancer where bone marrow fails to produce enough healthy blood cells.
Paul, 55, who lives in Frodsham in Cheshire, first spotted a problem in 2021 when he was particularly busy with work. “I just thought I’d overdone things,” he said. “I noticed I was becoming tired more easily, breathless, and just felt generally unwell.”
A GP sent him for extensive tests which found abnormalities in his bone marrow preventing the production of healthy blood cells. This was MDS, which can develop into full-blown acute myeloid leukaemia over time.
Paul, dad to 23-year-old daughter Mollyann, had to shut down his business due to his debilitating symptoms and he was given blood transfusions for eight months.
He also had high dose chemotherapy to destroy the cancer. Following chemotherapy, Paul needed stem cell transplant from a healthy donor to ensure a long-term cure, which took place at Clatterbridge in October 2022. The transplant went well and after recovering from some complications and following eight weeks in isolation, Paul went home. He is now in remission and free of cancer.
However, some months later Paul’s health started to decline after a series of viral infections, and began to suffer from a stiff neck, balance problems, breathlessness, itchiness and fatigue. His consultant at Clatterbridge, Dr Muhammad Saif, diagnosed GVHD and said Paul’s case was particularly severe.
Paul said:
“The build-up of being unwell with GVHD was over nine months and was getting worse. It was interfering with my immune system.”
GVHD can be very serious, even life-threatening, and Paul was offered steroids to treat it but also given the chance to join the clinical research trial.
He said:
“Dr Saif explained there were no guarantees of success but he is hoping it will be effective. I have 100% faith in him, so it did not take me long to decide to join the trial. I am being monitored very closely and the team is fantastic, answering any questions I have. Everyone is so nice.
“I’m taking part in this research not only for me, but the people around me, and others who come after me with this condition,” said Paul. “Not a lot of people have heard of GVHD, but it is a very real possibility after a stem cell transplant.”
Dr Saif said:
“Stem cell transplants are complicated procedures with significant risks but have been proven to be a highly effective way to replace blood cells that have been damaged or destroyed because of intensive cancer treatment.
“However, GVHD can be a result for some patients whose stem cell grafts start to attack the patient’s body. This can manifest itself in symptoms which vary in severity, and for a small number of patients they can be debilitating and even life-threatening.
“We hope that this trial can lead to a treatment to lessen or eradicate GVHD and allow patients in remission after their cancer treatment a chance to live a much healthier life.”
Paul said:
“I’m hoping that this clinical trial will give me an opportunity to get back to full health and eventually start up my business again and build it up as I recover fully. I am really looking forward to that and spending more time with Mollyann.
“For three years, I lived in the shadow of what was and what could be. Life, business, everything was put on hold. Recovery wasn’t just about healing – it was about finding the courage to rebuild, step by step, without knowing exactly what the future would look like.
“Relaunching my business isn’t about me running a marathon. It’s about simply making it to the start line. I have been a professional photographer for over 35 years and absolutely loved it. Cancer may have put my business on hold but I am determined that cancer will not be the reason that I walk away from my career and my passion.”
Mollyann is supporting her dad – and the cancer centre caring for him – by signing up to an abseil down the side of the Liverpool hospital in September, in aid of Clatterbridge Cancer Charity.
She said:
“It has been a very emotional and scary few years for dad and our family, but I’m so happy and proud to say my dad is now cancer free. I can’t thank the team at Clatterbridge enough for everything they are doing for him and for everything they do for people on a day-to-day basis.
“But also, I can’t express how proud I am of my dad. He has always been the strongest person I know but seeing his continuous smile throughout all of this made me feel like the proudest daughter alive. So, I will be doing this for him and to say the biggest thank you possible to the team at Clatterbridge.”
You can sponsor Mollyann on her fundraising page here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/mollyann-clatterbridge-abseil and see Paul’s photography on his website here: www.cheshirefilmandphotography.com