Charing Cross Hospital Seeks Funds for Rare Cancer Treatment
Oncologists working on improved care for disease linked to pregnancy
Melody Ransome (centre) had tried all standard treatment options for GTB
February 4, 2026
Charing Cross Hospital is appealing for public support to help fund a new clinical trial into a rare cancer linked to pregnancy. The Cancer Treatment and Research Trust (CTRT), working with oncologists at the hospital, has launched a campaign to raise awareness of Gestational Trophoblastic Disease (GTD) and secure funding for research into a less toxic treatment option.
GTD is a group of uncommon conditions in which abnormal cells form in the womb during or after pregnancy. Around 1,800 women in the UK are diagnosed with some form of GTD each year, with molar pregnancy — a little-known cause of miscarriage — the most common.
Professor Michael Seckl, an international specialist in GTD and Chair of CTRT, said that while many women respond well to surgery or low-dose chemotherapy, treatment can be lengthy and often delays future pregnancies. A proportion of patients require multi-agent chemotherapy, which can cause significant side effects including hair loss, nerve damage, infections and temporary menopause.
“It is imperative that we find less toxic treatments which can potentially enable women to restart their families sooner,” he said.
Researchers at Charing Cross believe immunotherapy — a treatment that stimulates the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells — could offer a safer and more effective alternative. CTRT has launched the GTD Immunotherapy Trial Campaign to raise the funds needed to run a clinical trial, which is expected to cost more than £1 million.
Professor Seckl said early evidence suggests immunotherapy could become a new standard of care. “We want to run an immunotherapy trial which avoids giving patients chemotherapy and could become a new standard of care for these women,” he said.
Dr Ehsan Ghorani, a CTRT trustee and GTD specialist at Imperial College, explained that GTD cancers originate from placental cells, which contain genetic material from both parents. This makes them particularly visible to the immune system — a factor that may explain why immunotherapy has shown promise.
The potential impact of the treatment is illustrated by the experience of Melody Ransome, a mother of two who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of GTD, choriocarcinoma, in 2012. After multiple rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and relapses, she had exhausted standard treatment options by 2015.
She was offered immunotherapy on a compassionate-use basis. Within months, her cancer had disappeared.
“I had no idea at any point that pregnancy can lead to cancer,” she said. “Women like me, who are diagnosed with GTD and are not responding to traditional chemotherapy, deserve to have a chance of survival.”
Charing Cross Hospital, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, is one of only two specialist centres in the UK for GTD treatment and management. Clinicians there have used largely the same chemotherapy-based approach for more than 40 years.
Melody's cancer treatment disappeared within months after switch to new treatment
Dr Ghorani said the cost of immunotherapy drugs and the expense of running a clinical trial were the main barriers to change. “This is why we are calling on support to help fundraise for a clinical trial so we can help more women in the future who are diagnosed with GTD,” he said.
Actor and producer Greg Wise is backing the campaign, drawing on his own experience of losing his sister to cancer. He has donated the cake recipe that earned him a “Hollywood handshake” on Celebrity Great British Bake Off to help raise funds.
“Cancer affects us all — either personally as sufferers or as carers and loved ones,” he said. “We all must do whatever we can to help those who are researching and treating it.”
CTRT funds research into a range of cancers, including rare conditions that receive little or no mainstream funding. The charity is encouraging donations to support the GTD immunotherapy trial.
To find out more about how you can support CTRT and raise money for the GTD Immunotherapy Campaign here: GTD Immunotherapy Trial - The Cancer Treatment and Research Trust
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