A Derriford Hospital patient has become the first person in the UK to receive a new experimental cancer treatment as part of a clinical trial.

Brian Holmes, aged 70, who has metastatic prostate cancer, received the infusion on Wednesday, March 11, at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. He is the first patient in the UK, the first in Europe and only the fifth person in the world to receive the treatment.

The treatment was delivered on the Fal ward by the Oncology Research team and the Oncology team at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.

Brian has undergone several lines of treatment for his cancer over the past two years and had exhausted all other options before being offered a place on the trial.

He said: “I can’t believe I’ve been given the opportunity to do this. It’s amazing, not just for me and potentially extending my life, but also for the hundreds, if not thousands, of lives that this could have the potential to save.”

The trial is being overseen by Dr Dominique Parslow, consultant clinical oncologist in uro-oncology and hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) cancers, alongside oncology staff nurse Amanda Hind and research nurse specialist Helen Smith.

Dr Parslow said: “It’s been a very long journey to get to today. It’s very difficult to get trial slots to put patients onto treatment, but it’s such a great opportunity for our local patients to get a new treatment that we have a lot of hope for.”

Amanda Hind said preparing Brian for the treatment had taken around two weeks. “It’s been absolutely amazing. There has been work going on for the last two weeks to prepare him for the treatment. We’ve been waiting for this pinnacle moment and it’s just been amazing,” she said.

The clinical trial is testing an antibody drug conjugate. This targeted cancer therapy combines antibodies with chemotherapy drugs designed to attach to cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy tissue.

Brian said he feels ‘privileged’ to be a part of the trial.