Brit with rare condition first in the world to trial new drug to stop cancer

20 January 2024 , 20:09

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Abbi Ritson is grateful to be on the trial

A British woman with a rare genetic condition is the first person on a trial aimed at stopping fellow patients getting cancer.

Abbi Ritson, 21, has started a five-year scheme to test if diabetes drug metformin can prevent the disease in people with Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

One in 5,000 people in the UK have the hereditary disorder – which raises the risk of developing cancer in women by 90% and in men by 70%, according to NHS data. If successful, the trial could save thousands of lives.

Abbi said: “I feel grateful to be on this trial. It could mean we could all be taking a drug in 10 years which could help to prevent us getting cancer.”

Ella died from a brain tumour, aged five

Abbi with dad Kevin and siblings Harry and Libby

Abbi, brother Harry, 16, sister Libby, 18, and dad Kevin, 46, were diagnosed with LFS when her grandad Vic was found to have the rogue gene after prostate cancer.

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Abbi’s sister Ella had already died from a brain tumour in 2009, aged five.

“Back then we didn’t know that any of us had LFS or that it was what caused Ella’s brain tumour,” said Abbi, of Didcot, Oxon.

The siblings had full-body MRI scans at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, which found Harry had a brain tumour. It was removed in November 2019 and he fully recovered. The family is now regularly monitored.

Kevin had his prostate removed after a scan in August revealed aggressive cancer. He has since had cancer removed from his left leg but it has returned to his prostate. He is on hormone treatment and awaiting six weeks of radiotherapy.

Kevin’s brother Simon, an ex-Royal Marine, also has LFS and is doing an 88-mile run for Cancer Research UK.

LFS, like the BRCA mutation, raises the risk of breast cancer, so Abbi will have a preventative mastectomy. Since 1975, four members of her family have died of cancer and eight have battled it.

The trial, by LFS charity the George Pantziarka TP53 Trust, will eventually involve 220. Chairman and co-founder Pan Pantziarka said: “The aim is people would be able to take a drug available for diabetes to reduce their cancer risk.

“Hopefully, it could reduce cancer rates by about 30%.”

• Give to Simon’s fundraiser at justgiving.com/page/simon-ritson-1704458769926

Rachel Tompkins