Duran Duran's Andy Taylor shares update on cancer - Nuclear Care MD
Guitarist praises new drug that may extend his life 5 more years.
Despite battling terminal prostate cancer, Duran Duran alum Andy Taylor says he has been able to prolong his life for five more years thanks to an innovative new drug he recently started taking.
The 62-year-old English guitarist, who went public with his diagnosis late last year, recently told “BBC Breakfast” that while he only began taking lutetium-177 six weeks ago, the effects are already life changing.With the cancer having spread to his bones, Taylor said his health had been in bad shape prior to starting his first round of the “nuclear medicine,” which is designed to target and destroy only can cerous cells.
“It can’t see healthy cells,” he explained. “It kills Stage 4 cancer in your bones. And so what it’s effectively done is extend my life for five years.”
Taylor’s diagnosis was shared with the world last November during Duran Duran’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Though Taylor’s illness kept him from attending the mile- stone event, he allowed his bandmates to read a letter revealing his terminal cancer, which had been diagnosed four years earlier.
At the time, Taylor said his treatment had, “until very recently, allowed (him) to just rock on,” but that a “setback” showed him he should not be “pushing (his) boundaries.”After the announcement, Taylor was contacted by Professor Sir Chris Evans, founder of the U.K.-based Cancer Awareness Trust, who offered him the lutetium-177 drug.
After an analysis of Taylor’s genetic profile and the specific mutations present in his cancer, Evans determined “lutetium-177 injections were considered the best option.” And so far, Taylor seems to be doing “marvelously” after his initial round – so much so that he’s been able to get back to work. His new album, titled “Man’s a Wolf to Man,’ is set to be released Sept.8.
“This (treatment) may result in quite a substantial life extension for Andy to continue being very creative and active making and performing live music,” Evans said. Lutetium-177 was approved by the FDA in March 2022 for advanced metastatic prostate cancer. According to U Chicago Medicine, “this therapy extends the quantity and quality of life for patients who otherwise would have limited treatment options…. As most patients respond to the treatment, their symptoms tend to get better and their quality of life improves.”
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