Drug trial offers little Madison fresh hope of beating cancer

LITTLE Madison Parton is to take part in a drugs trial which could save her life.

The four-year-old is among a handful of children chosen for the Cancer Research project starting at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

From next month the terminally-ill schoolgirl will spend three days and nights in hospital every 21 days as part of the six-month trial.

The new drug which will be used on Madison is in the early stages of development and has yet to even be given a name.

The youngster, who was told in the summer she only had months to live, has been defying medics since being diagnosed with the rhabdomyosarcoma cancer two years ago.

Now mum Annette, pictured with Madison, hopes the trial will kill off the cancer for good.

Annette, aged 34, of Sandford Hill, said: "We feel like we have been given a second chance. This could be the miracle we are all looking for to prolong her life, give her a better quality of life or even cure her.

"We understand it may not do anything for Madison, but we have to try.

"I can't sit back and just let my daughter die without trying something out there.

"The trial is going to take a lot of time up, but if it gets the results we're hoping for, it will be worth it. It could end up killing cancer cells.

"It is a brand new chemotherapy treatment and at the moment Madison is the only one to be on it in Birmingham.

"They are in the first stage of testing the drug and trying to find the maximum safe dose that can be given to children."

Less than 60 children are diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in the UK each year and it is more common in boys.

The tumours develop from muscle or fibrous tissue and can grow in any part of the body.

Madison was initially given just six months to live when she was first diagnosed in February 2008.

Gran Janet Parton, aged 58, of Carling Grove, Fenton, said: "This trial has given us new hope.

"They have made us quite aware that it is just a trial and they don't know what the outcome is going to be, but there is hope it is going to be favourable."

A spokesman for Birmingham Children's Hospital declined to comment on the trial because of patient confidentiality.