Personalised patient treatment

A new technology, funded by the St John of God Foundation donors, provided 29-year-old Emma English personalised cancer care which helped save her life. 

"When I was initially diagnosed with bowel cancer, my doctor recommended surgery along with 18 months of chemotherapy - it was a really long and hard time for me and my family, " Emma said. 

“When I finally completed the treatment and got the all clear, I was so relieved.”

“In February 2017, it all came crashing down again when a routine PET scan revealed that the cancer had spread to my liver.”

“I was told I would have a zero per cent chance of survival if the new tumour wasn’t removed.”

Emma, then aged 28, was facing another surgery and a further 12 months of chemotherapy.

“My husband Link and I got married between my surgery, and my first day of chemotherapy,” she said.

“I was so sick, I spent more time in hospital than I did out – no one wants to spend their first year as husband and wife in hospital.”

During the course of her treatment, Emma’s body reacted negatively to majority of the chemotherapy drugs – so doctors worked together to craft an individualised care plan to treat Emma’s cancer.

Emma’s Oncologist used the technology MiSequencer, purchased using generous donations from the community, to identify the gene sequence of her cancer, which had spread from her bowel to her liver... read more.