Edinburgh boy will be first in UK to join American trial for inoperable tumour
| Author | Ellie Forbes |
| Published date | 23 June 2022 |
| Publication title | EdinburghLive (Scotland) |
He then had four months of gruelling chemotherapy at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh, as well as six weeks of proton therapy in Germany. The treatments initially proved successful - but in February this year an MRI scan revealed the tumour had returned.
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In April Rudi, from Portobello, Edinburgh, was accepted for a pilot programme of immunotherapy in Seattle that his family hopes will slow the growth of the tumour. His desperate parents Ben Abbot, 46, and Coline Henault, 43, are fundraising for the treatment, which costs £250,000, and have so far raised nearly £101,000.
Dad Ben said Rudi will be the first person from the UK to receive the CAR-T treatment. It will see medics remove Rudi's T-cells, alter them to fight the cancer, and then reintroduce them directly into his brain. Next month, Rudi will head to out Seattle with dad Ben and his partner Mary Ramage, 39, as well as his mum and sister Iris, aged three.
Dad-of-four Ben said: "We are heading out to Seattle at the end of July to start the trial. It's not a cure, but we hope it will slow the growth of the tumour.
"The trial is £250,000 and we think the two-month trip, for the flights and places to stay, will cost about £30,000. Rudi will have treatment every day for a month and hopefully we will go back once a month after that."
Restauranteur Ben feared his son would not be accepted onto the trial after complications with American health insurance. But at the 11h-hour docs said Rudi could become a pilot case.
Ben said: "At Rudi's scan in February this year we were told the tumour had come back. They said there was nothing more they could do for him and he had months, not years, to live.
"I went into a complete depression when we found out, I couldn't get out of bed. Then my cousin in the States said there was a promising trial in Seattle we might be able to get on to.
"When the trial had started two years ago they were taking on international patients. But because you have to be there to get treatment every...
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