Chris Rea - An inspirational story to give us all hope x

When he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, one of the most dangerous forms because it is usually diagnosed in late stages, in 1994, Chris Rea had the world at his feet. He was preparing to tour the US, had many hits climbing the charts, money in the bank, millions of fans adoring him and a wife with whom he shared everything. The cancer diagnosis was not the end, though, the singer says now in the first revealing interview about his condition, but rather the beginning of a new – and, surprisingly enough, better – stage in his life.

Like most celebrities we see today, Rea too thought he was invincible, the center of the universe without whom the world would not even make sense. Countless surgeries later, months spent in a row on the hospital bed as doctors tried to make his organs function again or, on the contrary, laboring to take them out, the critically acclaimed singer says he’s found a new meaning to life: what’s important is not money and certainly not the kind of fame that vanishes on a whim, but love. He’s happy now and, as a result, he will also start touring Europe again because he wants fans to know he will never forget they made this happen.

“I have lost count and don’t keep dates [of the surgeries]. I suffer from inflammation and the breakdown of a certain kind of tissue. Or, at least, that’s what I’m told. Why did it happen in the first place? The wrong kind of DNA, I think. I have found out who are my real friends, thanks to the illness and hospitals. I have nearly died – and have seen what is real. It was not anything to do with the money. So I’ve started to get to know people in the village where I live for the first time.” Rea says for the Daily Mail in the brutally honest interview.

The singer has learned what matters the most in life are precisely the things we tend to take for granted every day, like those closest to us or even the people whom we are forced by circumstance to be near. What also matters is doing things (music, in his case) for pleasure alone and leave all other motivations aside, because they offer little consolation in the long run. It took Chris Rea a disease that is often labeled a certain killer to be saved and, as he puts it, learn a lesson in mortality, a thing other stars could also use – though he’s adamant no one deserves to go through what he’s been through.

“Once I faced the fact I was going to deal with illness for the rest of my life, I got on with what I really wanted to do. Touring is easy, because we are spoilt rotten. If you are a musician at the top end, it’s fun. I do it for pure pleasure, not because it is my reason for being. I’m not a saint. It has taken a life-threatening illness and a series of operations to get to the point I am now. I would not wish what I’ve had on anyone. But many celebrities could do with facing their own mortality.” Chris Rea further says.

58-year-old Rea is releasing a 2-CD, greatest-hits album, “Come So Far, Yet So Far to Go: The Best of Chris Rea,” on October 5. Next year, he will also put out a new album and an autobiography, “The Road to Hell and Back.” The European tour kicks off in January.

I had no idea he'd had Pancreatic Cancer.....just wish they/he would give more info on the type - and what treatment worked for him.

Juliana

Hi Emma

Thanks for the info on Chris Rea. Wow, he's certainly been through the mill! A whipple, 9 other operations, yet he's still here - a PC survivor!!

While reading up on him, I came across another report. It seems to be another breakthrough in treatment, albeit only on mice at the moment. This is what it said (from Daily Mail article):-

Researchers have taken a step forward in tackling pancreatic cancer, the disease which killed Hollywood actor Patrick Swayze.

Tests on a new drug show it can reverse the tumour's resistance to chemotherapy that results in a high death rate.

The research shows it is possible to inhibit the action of an enzyme called TAK-1 which helps to make pancreatic cancer cells extremely resistant to existing drugs.

Almost 8,000 people each year develop pancreatic cancer in the UK, with the majority dying shortly after diagnosis partly because the symptoms are spotted too late.

Tumours are hard to detect because the pancreas is buried deep in the body.

Only two per cent of patients are alive five years after first being treated, although surgery followed by chemotherapy can increase survival rates.

Doctors now believe they have opened the way to more treatments by developing a new drug that breaks down resistance to chemotherapy.

Dr Davide Melisi, from the National Cancer Institute in Naples, said resistance to chemotherapy was the greatest challenge to treating pancreatic cancer.

'Pancreatic cancer is an incurable malignancy, resistant to every anti-cancer treatment' he told the ESMO congress in Berlin, a joint meeting of the European Cancer Organisation and the European Society for Medical Oncology.

He said TAK-1 was generated by a regulatory protein controlling the growth of pancreatic cancer, which played an important role in making the cells unresponsive to conventional chemotherapy.

'Targeting TAK-1 could be a strategy to revert this resistance, increasing the efficacy of chemotherapy; he added.

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Dr Melisi worked with a US team at the MD Anderson Center in Houston, Texas, to develop a drug capable of inhibiting TAK-1 in mice.

They tested it alone and in combination with three anti-cancer drugs, gemcitabine, oxaliplatin and a form of the anti-cancer drug irinotecan.

He said 'The use of this TAK-1 inhibitor increased the sensitivity of pancreatic cells to all three chemotherapeutic drugs.

'By combining it with classic anti-cancer drugs, we were able to use doses of drugs up to 70 times lower in comparison with the control to kill the same number of cancer cells.

'In mice, we were able to reduce significantly the tumour volume, to prolong the mice survival, and to reduce the toxicity by combining the TAK-1 inhibitor with very low doses of a classic chemotherapeutic drug, gemcitabine, that would have been ineffective otherwise.'

Combining gemcitabine with the TAK-1 inhibitor led to a 78 per cent reduction in the size of tumours. It also doubled the length of survival.

Dr Melisi said: 'This is the first time that TAK-1 has been indicated as a relevant target for the treatment of a solid tumour and that it is a valid approach to reverting the intrinsic drug resistance of pancreatic cancer.

'The TAK-1 inhibitor used in this study is an exciting drug that warrants further development for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

'In the near future, we will study whether it is also able to make other chemotherapeutic agents, such as oxaliplatin, 5-FU or irinotecan, work against pancreatic cancer in mice.'

Dr Melisi said the next step would be to carry out a clinical trial in patients, where it would be combined with gemcitabine to test its safety and efficacy.

The Dirty Dancing star Swayze died last week after battling pancreatic cancer for almost two years.

He was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, an advanced form of the disease, in January 2008.

Smoking is one of the biggest triggers for pancreatic cancer. In the UK there has been a five per cent fall in pancreatic cancer cases in recent years which is thought to be linked to fewer people smoking

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1215849/Breakthrough-cancer-killed-Patrick-Swayze-new-drug-reduces-resistance-chemotherapy.html#ixzz0Tkg0F0Ui

We all know there's no magic cure...but it does seem a little progress IS being made! I just wish it was being made so much faster and would benefit my husband NOW.

Ellie

x

My step dad is just coming to the end of 6 months of chemo following his whipple, seeing Chris Rea on morning television (admittedly not looking the picture of health but if i remember correctly he was never particularly robust looking) gave him an insight into the fact that people do survive this terrible illness, the fact that not many people even realised he had it goes to show that there are survivors out there, but we don't always hear their story because they are out there making the most of their second chance. we don't know what is round the corner for my step dad but keeping hope alive is so very important. Lots of love to you all as always xx

Hi Emma

Thanks for the info on Chris Rea. Wow, he's certainly been through the mill! A whipple, 9 other operations, yet he's still here - a PC survivor!!

While reading up on him, I came across another report. It seems to be another breakthrough in treatment, albeit only on mice at the moment. This is what it said (from Daily Mail article):-

Researchers have taken a step forward in tackling pancreatic cancer, the disease which killed Hollywood actor Patrick Swayze.

Tests on a new drug show it can reverse the tumour's resistance to chemotherapy that results in a high death rate.

The research shows it is possible to inhibit the action of an enzyme called TAK-1 which helps to make pancreatic cancer cells extremely resistant to existing drugs.

Almost 8,000 people each year develop pancreatic cancer in the UK, with the majority dying shortly after diagnosis partly because the symptoms are spotted too late.

Tumours are hard to detect because the pancreas is buried deep in the body.

Only two per cent of patients are alive five years after first being treated, although surgery followed by chemotherapy can increase survival rates.

Doctors now believe they have opened the way to more treatments by developing a new drug that breaks down resistance to chemotherapy.

Dr Davide Melisi, from the National Cancer Institute in Naples, said resistance to chemotherapy was the greatest challenge to treating pancreatic cancer.

'Pancreatic cancer is an incurable malignancy, resistant to every anti-cancer treatment' he told the ESMO congress in Berlin, a joint meeting of the European Cancer Organisation and the European Society for Medical Oncology.

He said TAK-1 was generated by a regulatory protein controlling the growth of pancreatic cancer, which played an important role in making the cells unresponsive to conventional chemotherapy.

'Targeting TAK-1 could be a strategy to revert this resistance, increasing the efficacy of chemotherapy; he added.

More...Being overweight could become the leading cause of cancer in women, say scientists

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Dr Melisi worked with a US team at the MD Anderson Center in Houston, Texas, to develop a drug capable of inhibiting TAK-1 in mice.

They tested it alone and in combination with three anti-cancer drugs, gemcitabine, oxaliplatin and a form of the anti-cancer drug irinotecan.

He said 'The use of this TAK-1 inhibitor increased the sensitivity of pancreatic cells to all three chemotherapeutic drugs.

'By combining it with classic anti-cancer drugs, we were able to use doses of drugs up to 70 times lower in comparison with the control to kill the same number of cancer cells.

'In mice, we were able to reduce significantly the tumour volume, to prolong the mice survival, and to reduce the toxicity by combining the TAK-1 inhibitor with very low doses of a classic chemotherapeutic drug, gemcitabine, that would have been ineffective otherwise.'

Combining gemcitabine with the TAK-1 inhibitor led to a 78 per cent reduction in the size of tumours. It also doubled the length of survival.

Dr Melisi said: 'This is the first time that TAK-1 has been indicated as a relevant target for the treatment of a solid tumour and that it is a valid approach to reverting the intrinsic drug resistance of pancreatic cancer.

'The TAK-1 inhibitor used in this study is an exciting drug that warrants further development for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

'In the near future, we will study whether it is also able to make other chemotherapeutic agents, such as oxaliplatin, 5-FU or irinotecan, work against pancreatic cancer in mice.'

Dr Melisi said the next step would be to carry out a clinical trial in patients, where it would be combined with gemcitabine to test its safety and efficacy.

The Dirty Dancing star Swayze died last week after battling pancreatic cancer for almost two years.

He was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, an advanced form of the disease, in January 2008.

Smoking is one of the biggest triggers for pancreatic cancer. In the UK there has been a five per cent fall in pancreatic cancer cases in recent years which is thought to be linked to fewer people smoking

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1215849/Breakthrough-cancer-killed-Patrick-Swayze-new-drug-reduces-resistance-chemotherapy.html#ixzz0Tkg0F0Ui

We all know there's no magic cure...but it does seem a little progress IS being made! I just wish it was being made so much faster and would benefit my husband NOW.

Ellie

x

Ellis

It seems as though I read the same article as you, but despite searching the net all afternoon, I can find no more other than the same articule on other websites, I even googled Dr Melisi and the National Cancer Institue in Naples to no avail, but I will still be discussing it tomorrow.

Clair