A 49-YEAR-old grandmother from Bromsgrove with advanced bowel cancer has seen her tumours shrink in half after taking an experimental drug.

Terri Hurdman joined a clinical trial at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester for a new drug that targets a specific gene controlling how cancer grows.

The medicine is so new it has not been given a name yet, but medics are impressed by its results.

Ms Hurdman had been left exhausted and out of breath due to her cancer.

But within hours of trialling the new drug she was climbing stairs with no effort and after three months scans showed her tumours had halved in size.

Ms Hurdman, who has three children and six grandchildren, was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer on Valentine’s Day in 2020.

The previously fit and healthy factory worker initially thought her stomach ache may be irritable bowel syndrome, but her GP referred her to Kidderminster Hospital, which diagnosed her with stage 4 bowel cancer which had spread to her lungs.

Ms Hurdman underwent three types of chemotherapy, which failed to work, and medics told her she had no options left.

By August 2021 she had become very ill, had lost 1.5st in weight and was becoming weaker, needing a wheelchair to leave the house.

She has a mutation in the KRAS gene of her cancer and, until now, it has been difficult for scientists to design drugs to treat this gene.

There are several types of KRAS mutation and doctors worked out that Ms Hurdman has the one the new drug is targeting as part of an international trial.

She said: “It’s like a miracle. It really is a wonder drug. Within days I didn’t need to use the wheelchair at all, and I didn’t get out of breath climbing stairs, which would have previously led to a coughing fit.

“My appetite came back, which made me look so much healthier, and the colour returned to my cheeks.

“I didn’t think I’d make it to Christmas, but now I’m looking forward to celebrating my 50th birthday in July. I feel myself again and I’m able to enjoy life.”

Dr Matthew Krebs, medical oncologist from the Christie and the University of Manchester, leading on the study in the UK, said: “We are delighted at the response Terri has had to this treatment.

“Her scans show that her tumours have reduced by nearly 50% in just three months.

“It targets only a specific sub-type of KRAS mutation, and a similar drug has already been approved for patients with lung cancer.

“There’s much more work to do before this drug may be available routinely for patients, and not everyone will respond in this way, but Terri’s case highlights the importance of genetic testing in cancer patients and the potential benefits that clinical trials of new drugs can hold.”

Dr Krebs said the KRAS mutation is one of the most common mutations across a range of cancer types.

Around 47,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK every year, while 43,000 are diagnosed with bowel cancer.