Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor says nuclear cancer drug has given him five more years
Duran Duran star Andy Taylor has given an update on his cancer battle as he revealed new treatments have given him five more years to live.
The 62-year-old guitarist was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer in 2018 - and he went public with his sad news last year when his band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Girls On Film rocker announced his illness in a letter that the band read out while attending the 2022 ceremony which Andy couldn’t attend due to ill health.
The letter had explained at the time that his condition was incurable but that he was hopeful it wasn’t immediately life-threatening. Now the star has opened up about his battle, and treatment process, and explained how medication is helping to extend his life expectancy as his fight against cancer continues.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Andy said: “I’ve had stage four prostate cancer for around about eight years and it caught up with me quite badly around last September. As hard as I tried, and all the preparation I made, when you do something like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is basically like getting knighted for a guitar player, you’ve kind of got to be on 11.
Warning as popular food and drink ‘increase risk of cancer death by up to 30%’
“You can’t saunter in, and a few days before (the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony) I couldn’t really stand up and play, and I had to deal with the denial but it was sad and I hadn’t told the guys, no one knew.”
Duran Duran's Roger Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor, Simon Le Bon and John TaylorAndy explained that the letter that his bandmates – singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor, and drummer Roger Taylor – read out at the ceremony, was also how he broke the news to them. Andy explained: “I’d just sort of kept it because once it goes public I knew it would be fairly extensive. I could’ve picked a quieter moment for it to go public, but I didn’t want to make a fool of the band.”
He went on to explain that going public with his news took some of the pressure off. He said: “Once I had the support and the team to help me handle all of that (the public response) I was able to go through with it.
“But the great irony is, I missed the biggest night of my life.”
Andy went on to explain that new treatments are helping him fight the disease. He said: “It can’t see healthy cells, and I had my first round of it about – I’m in next week for another round – six weeks ago and it kills stage four cancer in your bones.
"It kills stage four cancer in your bones. And so what it's effectively done is extend my life for five years."
He also explained to the BBC that he was approached by a scientist who offered him "a nuclear medicine, Lutetium-177, which is targeted so it only sees cancer cells" after he went public with his diagnosis.
* The original version of this story carried a photo of John Taylor and touring guitarist Dom Brown, which was incorrectly captioned by the agency which supplied it as John and Andy Taylor. It has since been removed.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
