CANCER patients gathered at a hospital yesterday to demonstrate the growing success of clinical trials.

Since the North of England Cancer Research Network South was launched in 2002, more than 3,000 cancer patients from County Durham, Teesside and North Yorkshire have helped test new treatments.

While not everyone who signed up received new drugs, many patients had their lives extended by existing cancer treatment, which is being improved all the time.

The ceremony at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, was held to mark International Clinical Trials Day and to highlight the fact that hundreds of cancer patients treated at the hospital have benefited from access to new drugs.

Among them was Mary Hendry, 62, from Thornaby, near Stockton, who was diagnosed with cancer 18 months after her husband died of a heart attack.

The grandmother-of-six was told she would probably need surgery, but was then offered the chance to take part in a clinical trial.

It involved receiving chemotherapy 24 hours a day for 12 weeks via a bottle she had to carry around, followed by 25 sessions of radiotherapy.

Museum praised in awards A MUSEUM has been highly commended at a European awards ceremony.

At the Museums and Heritage Awards for Excellence, Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, was joint runner-up to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, in Alloway, Scotland, in the permanent exhibition category for its fashion and textile gallery.

Joanna Hashagen, keeper of textiles at the museum, said: “The Bowes Museum is absolutely thrilled at being highly commended for the best permanent exhibition award.

“It is hugely rewarding to receive recognition for the fashion and textile gallery and for its designers, Blue, who were inspirational to work with.

“I am so grateful to the small team of talented people who had the shared vision and ambition to create something outstanding and innovative.

“We are excited about the potential of this fashion gallery in the North of England, which kicks off with Vivienne Westwood Shoes as its first temporary exhibition on June 10.”

The chemotherapy left Mrs Hendry with little energy, but a year on, as a result of the treatment, she has not had to have surgery.

She said: “Life is precious and you will do anything for it. If they did not do these trials, they would not get any further forward.”

When Stockton grandfather Francis Carr, 72, was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, he thought there would be little doctors could do for him.

But he was given a huge boost when he signed up to a clinical trial. He said: “It gave me something to focus on.”

After surviving stomach cancer, Mr Carr developed a cancerous lump on his neck.

Five months after he started chemotherapy, he was told the tumour had gone.

He said: “I thought my chances of survival were quite small, but going on this trial really did lift me, even though I discovered later I had not actually been given any new drugs.”

Consultant oncologist Dr Nick Wadd said: “Clinical trials benefit the patients who participate and improve the quality of care for all patients treated in the trust by ensuring leading edge treatments are offered.

“We would like thank everyone who has participated to date.”