NEED TO KNOW
British mom Zara McCormick thought she was experiencing pregnancy symptoms only to be diagnosed with bowel cancer
McCormick took part in a clinical trial to treat her stage 3 bowel cancer
The mom of one is looking forward to regaining her energy post-treatment
A British mom who thought she was experiencing pregnancy symptoms ended up being diagnosed with bowel cancer the week of her son’s first birthday.
Zara McCormick, 36, from the village of Gee Cross in Tameside, England, is now cancer-free after taking part in a U.K.-based clinical trial at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in nearby Manchester.
While sharing her story on the hospital’s website, the project manager opened up about the symptoms she experienced before her diagnosis in 2023, which she said came as a “massive shock.”
McCormick — who is married to her husband Paul and mom to son Lewis, now 3 — “was diagnosed the same week as Lewis’ first birthday, [and] had initially put her symptoms — anaemia, which was causing fatigue and breathlessness — down to pregnancy,” a release stated.
“However, when they continued after Lewis was born, she went to have some tests at her local hospital and was diagnosed with stage 3c bowel cancer with an MSI-H mutation,” the hospital added, confirming that “this type of cancer occurs when mismatch repair (MMR) genes, whose job is to correct errors that happen during cell division, stop functioning properly.”
Zara McCormick
Zara McCormick
McCormick recalled of her symptoms, “I didn’t have any of the typical symptoms like blood in my poo, so the diagnosis came as a massive shock.”
The hospital noted of McCormick’s diagnosis, “Around 10-15% people with bowel cancer have this mutation,” adding that “this type of cancer is very responsive to immunotherapy.”
McCormick was referred to The Christie hospital to find out more about the U.K.-based NEOPRISM trial, the release stated.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the clinical trial investigates whether giving the immunotherapy drug, pembrolizumab, before surgery “improves the chances of the [tumor] being removed completely and whether it delays or prevents the cancer from coming back.”
Zara McCormick
Zara McCormick (right) and husband Paul
McCormick started her three cycles of pembrolizumab in June 2023, before having a scan, which showed that the tumors in her bowel and lymph nodes had “shrunk significantly, and she had surgery to remove part of her bowel,” the hospital shared.
“She had the operation at The Christie in September, and the subsequent biopsy result showed there were no active cancer cells, only scar tissue, so she’d had a complete response to her treatment,” the release stated, adding that McCormick “remains cancer-free and now has 6-monthly scans and yearly colonoscopies” at the facility.
In an email to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for the hospital said that McCormick was “keen to mention that this trial was her first line of treatment as there’s a misconception that trials are always for people with limited options left.”
Mark Waugh/Alamy Stock Photo
A photo of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, U.K.
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McCormick said of the medics at the hospital, “They took the time to talk me through everything and answer all my questions. They explained that my type of cancer might not respond to chemotherapy — the standard treatment currently available — and gave me all the information I needed to make the right choice for me,” per the release.
She said that despite the treatment being a success, it has left her “feeling fatigued.” However, she’s now back at work and looking forward to the future.
“Although I tolerated the treatment well, it did leave me feeling fatigued, so I’m really focused on getting my fitness back so I can be as active as my little boy is,” McCormick shared.
“I’m back at work and looking forward to the little things, like celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary in a couple of years and seeing Lewis start school. I’m also involved in some bowel cancer support groups, helping others like me,” she added, thanking the hospital for everything they’ve done for her.
Read the original article on People
