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A Year to Save My Life: George McGavin and Melanoma

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George McGavin

Harry Bell

Anne-Claire Pilley

Alex Gower-Jackson

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Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

BBC Four - A Year to Save My Life: George McGavin and Melanoma

Dr George McGavin learns about the science behind his treatment for a rare form of cancer.

After being diagnosed with a rare, deadly form of malignant melanoma, George McGavin embarks on a unique, and deeply personal, journey as he learns about the science behind his treatment.

After being diagnosed with a rare and deadly form of malignant melanoma - acral lentiginous melanoma - television presenter and biologist Dr George McGavin embarks on a highly emotional and deeply personal journey as he goes through treatment for his cancer. George’s treatment is targeted drug therapy, using drugs approved for use by the NHS only weeks before his diagnosis.

During this journey, he is given unprecedented access to the process and science behind his medical treatment and diagnosis. He also meets some of the most highly regarded scientists in the field of cancer research in his quest to understand not just his disease but what the future holds as a whole for cancer treatment. Amongst them are Professor Sir Michael Stratton, director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and chief executive officer of the Wellcome Genome Campus, whose work resulted in the discovery of the mutation in the B RAF gene responsible for his form of melanoma. George also travels to Houston, Texas to meet Professor James P Allison, winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine, to find out about his pioneering work in the field of immunotherapy - the greatest breakthrough in cancer research in a century. 

Back home in his own hospital, he meets a unique group of stage four melanoma patients who owe their lives to Professor Allison’s work. Ultimately, his journey culminates when he receives his prognosis, after three months of treatment, which will determine his future. Will these groundbreaking drugs actually work?


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