Former cancer patient whose pioneering immunotherapy treatment rid his body of the disease urges others to never give up hope

Press release

16 October 2024

David Bateson, from Bedfordshire, was diagnosed with melanoma in 2019. The father-of-three, from Ampthill, had an operation to remove the lesion, followed by a skin graft. The cancer returned the following year and David needed to have surgery to remove his lymph nodes from his neck, followed by radiotherapy. David was then put on a course of immunotherapy as a preventative measure, but it was on his birthday in 2021, two years later, that he received the news that his cancer had returned, it was Stage 4 and had spread to his liver, lungs and spine. 

“I just thought, it’s Stage 4 and it’s spread to all those organs. I’m done.” 

David’s consultant, Dr Pippa Corrie, a consultant medical oncologist at Addenbrooke’s, prescribed David a new course of immunotherapy treatment, combining two drugs to kick-start his immune system and after two years of the pioneering treatment, David was given the news in January of this year that there was no trace of cancer in his body. 

David said: “I went from believing I was going to die to being told there was no trace of cancer in my body and there was only a 2% chance of it returning. I just feel incredibly lucky and I appreciate life so much. I have a second go at this and it’s just amazing.” 

“The chances are I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for people at the hospital researching and developing new drugs to fight cancer.” 

Research is key at Addenbrooke’s and the wider Cambridge Biomedical Campus. With technical advances in genome sequencing, AI and immunotherapy, patients are experiencing new hope through personalised cancer treatments. This integrated approach will help fast track cancer innovations and will mean patients from not just across the region, but the whole country, can directly benefit from the latest innovations in cancer science.

David is now a member of the hospital’s Patient Advisory Group (PAG), a group of current and former patients using their lived experience to help design and shape the best care to meet everyone’s needs. 

Knowing how lucky he is to be here now, David has this message for other cancer patients. “Don’t ever give up hope. Someone, somewhere, is testing something that could help you. Don’t underestimate the power of medical science and what drugs can do for you.” 

Dr Corrie, who specialises in melanoma and pancreaticobiliary cancers, said: “Immunotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors are really revolutionary in that before 10/15 years ago, people like David really had very little options in terms of treatment and unfortunately very poor outcomes. Now we can offer them effective immunotherapy which can potentially improve their life expectancy and actually cure some people and that’s really a major step change in how we manage patients with melanoma and now we are doing the same by using these drugs to treat other types of cancer as well.” 

David decided to start fundraising for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust as soon as he started his immunotherapy treatment, giving himself the goal of raising £500 for further investment into this groundbreaking medical technology. He has since exceeded his goal, going on to raise a staggering £50,000.  

David’s £50,000 fundraising tally was reached with a charity football match and a silent raffle and auction. The football match saw Ampthill Town Football Club battle it out against Luton Town Football Club under 21s (which David’s son Jack plays for). Former England goalkeeper David James made a special appearance on the day. 

Earlier this year, Luton Town’s Mick Harford presented David with a giant cheque for £50,000, made out to ACT, at the City’s Premier League match against Fulham FC, which saw the club relegated after losing 4-2.  

“He’s a bit of a legend for someone my age. It was a hell of a surprise, such a lovely thing to do.” 

Describing what it was like to be told he had Stage 4 cancer that had spread to his major organs, David said: “I was just walking round punch-drunk, like I wasn’t really there.” 

The hardest thing was worrying about what would happen to his family – his wife, Lisa, a community nurse, and their children, George, 22; Jack, 19, and Grace, 17. 

“Having kids is the best feeling in the world. When they are born, the feeling you have is unbelievable. I didn’t want to not be there for them, I kept thinking about all the things I would miss. Things like walking Grace down the aisle.” 

But he said despite how he was feeling, his strategy was to try and ‘normalise’ cancer whenever he was at home. “I just tried to normalise it. That was my strategy. During the time I’ve had cancer, the kids have done their A levels, GCSEs, driving tests, got girlfriends, boyfriends, and I like to think that this cancer hasn’t completely ruined their young lives. And that’s a credit to me and Lisa. How we have set the tone and dealt with it.” 

Despite David’s amazing news in January, Lisa said the emotional scars are still there and said, even now, she finds herself reluctant to celebrate.  

“Even now, with David being told he only has a 2% chance of his cancer returning, I still feel scared to celebrate. We have had so many different celebrations where we have been given good news, I am more sceptical now. I think it’s just a way of protecting myself.” 

For David though – “this time feels different” – and having been given the good news back in January, he is keen to continue fundraising for the hospital.

“I really think in 20 years’ time we will be saying, ‘remember when cancer used to kill us.’ It is all about changing the story of cancer.” 

To find out more about fundraising to support cancer services at Addenbrooke’s, please click here. 

Read more of David’s story and watch his story below.

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