Sentenced to death: how a man has been living with cancer for 25 years instead of the given 6 months

Former president of Surrey Cricket Club Mike Soper was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer (mCRPC) 25 years ago. Despite doctors giving him only six months to live, the man is now 80 years old.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to foreign media, he holds the record for the longest life with this disease.

At that time, 55-year-old Soper had just retired and was involved in reorganizing the club. Returning home, he felt a strange pain in his chest. Initially, the doctor considered it heart pain, but Soper knew that his heart was fine.

After five weeks, detailed tests showed an incredibly high PSA level - 580 ng/ml, indicating that cancer had spread throughout his body. The doctor explained that the chest pain was caused by cancer metastases in the bones.

Soper's life was saved by his close friend. He called his friend, former UK Prime Minister John Major, and asked if he knew anyone in the US who was involved in new treatment methods and clinical trials. Major introduced him to Professor Chris Logothetis from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

At that time, the standard treatment in England was hormone therapy, and if it was ineffective, chemotherapy was prescribed. However, Logothetis used a different, earlier and more intensive treatment method in the US for younger and stronger patients. This method involved attacking the cancer from the beginning with the drug Taxotere. At that time, this drug in England was only prescribed to patients with breast cancer and was not covered by the NHS.

After the first dose prescribed by Logothetis, Soper's PSA level dropped to almost zero over several months. Later, the NHS also recognized this drug as a treatment method. Soper visited Logothetis annually until 2012, while his PSA level remained at 0 ng/ml.

In 2015, the PSA level began to rise again and by 2022 reached 190 ng/ml. After several courses of chemotherapy, when in October 2024 the indicator exceeded 500 ng/ml, Soper was referred to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

Currently, Soper is one of 67 men participating in clinical trials of a new, as yet unnamed drug. When he started treatment, his PSA level was 1,237 ng/ml. He receives a three-hour infusion every week.

Although there were difficulties at first, such as tremors and fever, his body is gradually adapting. The latest PSA test showed 23 ng/ml, which gave Soper great hope. He says: "I feel like a guinea pig, it's the hardest treatment I've ever gone through, but I'm still continuing."

Soper claims that in 25 years of experience, he has learned a lot about prostate cancer and advises others to research their disease and evaluate opportunities to participate in clinical trials.

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