New Zealand actor Sam Neill officially announces he has won his fight against cancer. The Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders star revealed that after fighting lymphoma for around five years, he has managed to beat it back with a life-saving, revolutionary therapy.
That might sound like a clickbait ad, but Neill is trying to ensure that others can potentially have their lives saved thanks to this new therapy, known as CAR T-cell therapy. This genetically modifies blood cells for cancer patients, and is currently in clinical trials to help fight another type of blood cancer known as myeloma.
"I've been living with a particular type of lymphoma for about five years and I was on chemotherapy and the pretty miserable business but it was keeping me alive. Then the chemo stopped working. I was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn't ideal obviously," Neill explained to 7 News.
After using CAR T-cell therapy, Neill said he had a scan and "no cancer" was found in his body. Neill is currently fighting alongside fellow cancer survivor Geoff Nyssen to get Australian state and federal funding for the revolutionary treatment, which can cost up to $750,000 privately. It's hoped that the therapy can be available to patients within a couple of months, if all goes well.