Kate was 49 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. The former social worker underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery at her local hospital and, after completing treatment, continued to attend regular check-ups.
Five years later, in 2021, Kate learned that her cancer had returned and spread to other parts of her body, meaning she was now living with stage 4 breast cancer.
“It was a very traumatic time. I remember one occasion sitting in my local Boots pharmacy and just crying. The fear was overwhelming.”
Becoming a patient at The Royal Marsden
Kate was referred to The Royal Marsden in 2021 after deciding to seek a second opinion regarding her options for reconstructive surgery. It was while waiting for this surgery that she received her secondary cancer diagnosis.
Following this, Kate moved all her oncology care to The Royal Marsden under the supervision of Consultant Medical Oncologist Dr Alicia Okines.
Since then, she has received treatment, undergone surgery and been supported throughout by a team of specialists. When her standard treatment stopped working, she was also given the opportunity to take part in a clinical trial.
“When I came to The Royal Marsden, it was stage 4 and had spread. They started me on Palbociclib tablets. That was for a few years. I also had DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery in 2023.”
“I saw Dr Alicia Okines, and that was it. She made me feel like I needed to be here and I haven’t looked back."
Outside of her treatment at The Royal Marsden, where she is under the care of both the breast and gastrointestinal teams, Kate receives support from different hospitals for other medical conditions.
"Dr Okines and my nurse have got to know me really well. I've got so many other complex medical issues, and the different teams work together and monitor how the medicine might impact my other conditions."
“At The Royal Marsden I’m looked at like an individual."
The opportunity to join a clinical trial
In August 2024, Kate’s treatment stopped working and she enrolled onto the ViKtoria-1 trial.
The Phase 3 clinical study is evaluating whether a drug called gedatolisib can improve outcomes for patients with a specific type of advanced breast cancer.
“I remember my appointment where I met my nurse for the first time. They were so enthusiastic about this drug and about me joining their team.
“I was really nervous, but I 100% felt like I could ask all the questions I wanted to ask, and I was given the time that I needed. They were on the phone when I needed them, and there was that continuity of care the whole way through.”
Holistic care at The Royal Marsden
Kate has experienced holistic cancer care while being treated at The Royal Marsden and knows first-hand the difference it can make.
"I've received various physio and complementary therapies since I've been at the Marsden. At the moment, I am going weekly to a local sports gym with other Marsden patients and the physiotherapists... it gives me that drive to carry on and it helps both physically and psychologically.
"I’ve also seen one of the complementary therapists for massage therapy. It's been really, really helpful.
"When I was admitted to hospital as an in-patient, I was just so overwhelmed. I was on steroids and I just couldn't sleep – I was like a zombie. The massage therapy calmed me down, and one of the therapists even gave me a little massage in bed on the ward. It meant the world.
"I’ve just felt so safe and looked after.”
Support beyond cancer treatment
For Kate, living with cancer has also meant dealing with the emotional impact of her diagnosis and everything that happened around it.
She lost her father to cancer in 2014, two years before her own diagnosis. In 2021, just three months after learning that her cancer had returned, her brother died suddenly. The following year, in 2022, Kate lost her mother to cancer.
“I think I was dealing with all that grief as well as getting used to my own diagnosis, and it was all too overwhelming.
“At the beginning, having psychological support was about having someone to talk to – not just about receiving a second diagnosis, but also about my first diagnosis. I was still carrying a lot of trauma and scars around my first treatment. I was just so scared.
Kate says psychological support helped her to process what had happened and gave her the strength to continue with treatment.
“I knew I couldn’t just give up, but it was about making me feel safe and giving me that strength to go through treatment again.
“I had a round of psychological support which helped me come to terms with my secondary diagnosis. It really helped.”
Kate and her husband also received couples psychological support, focusing on the impact of cancer on their wider family and how they could cope together.
She subsequently received EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy, which uses eye movements to help the brain process trauma. It has helped Kate to work through some of the trauma associated with her first cancer diagnosis.
“The door has been left open for me to go back,” she says.
How Kate is doing now
Kate remained on the ViKtoria-1 trial until July 2026, when scans showed that her tumour had started to grow again. As a result, she came off the clinical trial and started first-line chemotherapy with vinorelbine. Her cancer is now stable and her clinical team are happy with how things are progressing.
“Although I am, of course, nervous about the unknown, I trust my oncologist and know that I am in safe hands.”
Throughout her treatment, Kate says the people around her at The Royal Marsden have helped her to feel supported and cared for.
“Everyone working at The Royal Marsden, whatever their position, always seems to be happy and cheerful. Their positivity reflects on you as a patient too. You are also greeted with warmth and friendliness.
“It is difficult to find the words to describe how it feels when you become part of The Royal Marsden. It feels like you are part of a family there, and it is somewhere you feel you can be yourself.”
The psychological support, massage therapy and physiotherapy that Kate has received throughout her treatment are all services that The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity helps to fund.
By donating today, you can help ensure that patients like Kate continue to benefit from this vital care.