‘I was getting ready to say goodbye’: cancer patient’s hope after smart drug success
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- Pat Brogan is a 68‑year‑old lung‑cancer patient from Cowdenbeath, Scotland, whose tumors have shrunk by almost a third after receiving the smart drug GRWD5769.
- GRWD5769 is a smart drug that blocks cancer cells from evading the immune system, enabling immunotherapy to target and kill them; results were presented at the world's largest oncology conference in Chicago.
- Pat Brogan joined the trial in 2025 after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2021 and undergoing three years of chemotherapy and immunotherapy before the disease progressed.
- Pat Brogan now plans to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding in June and take a holiday in Spain with his wife, milestones he previously feared he would never achieve.
- Prof Stefan Symeonides and his team at Edinburgh were credited by Pat Brogan for their role in the trial and research.
Why it matters: Stage‑four lung‑cancer patients gain a new therapeutic option that can shrink tumors by almost a third, potentially reducing reliance on toxic chemotherapy and extending quality‑of‑life years for survivors.
