NEWS RELEASE
 
Released by: Peter Bone
Release time: Immediate
Date: 17th March 2010
Contact:  07780 613 457
     0207 219 8496
                 07814 567 967
Peter Bone MP
Listening to Wellingborough & Rushden News
 
MP WINS FIGHT TO GIVE LITTLE ZACH A SHOT AT LIFE
Wednesday 17th March 2010
 
Peter Bone, Member of Parliament for Wellingborough and Rushden, today won the battle to get a young boy with cancer the medical treatment that could mean the difference between life and death.
 
Zachary Knighton-Smith, a 5-year-old boy from Rushden, suffers from Neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer. The usual treatment in the UK – a mixture of invasive surgery and intense chemotherapy – gives only a 20% chance of survival.  However, a new form of treatment, Monoclonal Antibody Therapy, which gives a 70 % chance of survival, has recently gone on trial in the UK. 
 
Mr Bone says: ‘Until today, whilst every other child diagnosed with this life-threatening and horrific disease was entitled to receive Monoclonal Antibody therapy, Zachary had been left out.  This, tragically, was due to a combination of bureaucratic delays and bad timing.
 
‘However, I am delighted to be able to announce today that Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust has agreed to fund treatment for this brave little boy.  He will either be able to take part in the UK trial – if this is impossible, the Primary Care Trust has agreed to fund his treatment abroad in Germany.
 
‘Time was of the essence in trying to give this little boy the best possible chance at a proper life. I would like to thank Ann Keen MP, the Health Minister, Dr Penelope Brock and Dr Mark Gaze from Great Ormond Street Hospital, Dr Visser, Zachary’s consultant at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, John Parkes, Chief Executive of Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust but most of all, I would commend the efforts of Zach’s parents, Samantha and Bob, for their courageous campaign which has led to this successful outcome.’
 
 
ENDS
 
Notes to Editors:
  1. Immediate Release
  2. For more information please contact Peter Bone MP on 07780 613 457 or Caroline Escott on 07814 567 967
  3. Neuroblastoma is a rare form of cancer that occurs almost exclusively in children of 5 years or less.  Around 50 new cases of this disease are diagnosed each year in the UK – but because the symptoms tend to vary greatly, some two thirds of children are not diagnosed until the disease is widespread. Current treatment varies according to each individual case, but can include a mixture of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.  The new treatment, Monoclonal antibody therapy, is being trialled across Europe and involves immunotherapy, which stimulates the body’s own immune system to attack and destroy any Neuroblastoma cells that have not already been eradicated by conventional treatment.
 

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