Former nurse from Southampton cancer-free after pioneering treatment

  • ITV Meridian's Social Affairs correspondent Christine Alsford has been speaking to Caroline Ainslie

A former nurse from Southampton who was diagnosed with what was thought to be inoperable ovarian cancer is now cancer-free after having pioneering treatment at University Hospital Southampton.

Caroline Ainslie had worked as a nurse for the NHS for nearly 40 years which included time spent at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

At the age of 60, she was diagnosed with advanced stage ovarian cancer which had spread to her bowel, lungs and liver.

She was told her only treatment option would be three initial rounds of life-extending chemotherapy.

She said: "My thoughts were that's it, I've not got very much longer to live.

"Initially I was told that my cancer was inoperable but after my third chemo and my scan, I went to see the oncologist and her response to me was that I had had a spectacular response to the chemotherapy and that I was then a candidate who could have surgery and HIPEC."

  • Caroline Ainslie thought her cancer was inoperable

HIPEC is a pioneering treatment known as hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

University Hospital Southampton is one of only a handful of specialist centres in the country able to offer it to suitable patients.

So far Southampton has treated around 50 patients including Caroline. 

Mr David Constable-Phelps, Consultant Gynaecologist at University Hospital Southampton, led the team who carried out Caroline’s surgery.

He said: "We put heated fluid inside the abdomen at the end of the surgery and to that we add chemotherapy and then that circulates for 90 minutes applying the chemotherapy to all the surfaces inside the abdomen, the purpose of that being that it applies the chemotherapy to any microscopic cells that may remain.

"The data suggests this does add significant survival advantage."

Caroline Ainslie worked as a nurse for the NHS for nearly 40 years. Credit: Caroline Ainslie

Caroline said she was "eternally grateful for the opportunity to have had it", adding: "With ovarian cancer there is a risk you will get a recurrence but the HIPEC, I think the stats are that it gives you at least an extra year so for me, I'll take that, definitely."

She is now urging other women to look out for the signs of ovarian cancer which is often called a "silent killer" because its early signs are vague and easily mistaken for common digestive or menstrual issues.

Symptoms of ovarian cancer

  • Persistent bloating

  • Pelvic or abdominal pain

  • Feeling full quickly while eating

  • Frequent or urgent need to urinate

It is the sixth most common cancer in women, with around 7,500 women diagnosed in the UK each year, claiming the lives of more than 4,000 annually.

Caroline is now recovering from surgery and will undergo two further rounds of chemotherapy, while continuing to be monitored closely.

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