NEWS RELEASE
 
Released by: Peter Bone
Release time: Immediate
Date: 16th March 2010
Contact:  07780 613 457
     0207 219 8496
                 07814 567 967
Peter Bone MP
Listening to Wellingborough & Rushden News
PETER BONE MP HOLDS DEBATE ON CANCER TREATMENT FOR ZACHARY KNIGHTON-SMITH
Tuesday 16th March 2010
 
Peter Bone, Member of Parliament for Wellingborough and Rushden will be holding a Parliamentary debate today in Westminster Hall at 12.30pm to discuss the case of Zachary Knighton-Smith, a 5-year-old boy from Rushden who has Neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer. 
 
He will also be highlighting the need for new NHS facilities in the constituency.
 
Mr Bone said: ‘The current treatment being offered to children with Neuroblastoma gives a survival rate of between 20 – 30%. However, a new treatment, Monoclonal Antibody Therapy, that is being trialled in the UK, would give children with this disease a 70% chance of survival.
 
‘In order for the Monoclonal Antibody Therapy to work effectively, Zachary needs to receive it by mid-April.  Sadly, he missed out on the first UK trial for purely bureaucratic reasons and he will now be missing out on a second trial because it will start after mid-April.  This makes Zach the only child in the country who will be unable to get the treatment he desperately needs.
 
‘The only other option is to get Zachary treated in the United States, at a cost of between $250,000 and $800,000.  How much is a child’s life worth? With the government spending £120bn a year on the NHS, the cost of sending Zachary to the US for treatment is a drop in the ocean. 
 
‘This brave little boy has already been through so much and time is running out.  This is why I shall be pressing the government today to find a way to give Zachary the treatment he so badly deserves.’ 
 
 
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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