Gyles Brandreth says grandson’s cancer diagnosis as a baby was a ‘shock to the system’

British broadcaster and former Conservative MP, Gyles Brandreth, has opened up about his grandson Kitt’s cancer diagnosis as a baby.

He has called for kinder treatments for childhood cancers, and said: ‘You read things [about new treatments] in the paper and think this sounds exciting but when you speak to the doctors, they aren’t available yet.’

Speaking about the diagnosis, Brandreth, 77, said: ‘Kitt’s diagnosis was a shock to the system. We think of cancer as something that happens to unlucky middle-aged people.’

The now 10-year-old was a baby when his parents found a hard, pea-shaped lump near his stomach when changing his nappy.

They went to the doctors and were told it was likely a cyst or a hernia.

But after an A&E trip, ultrasounds and other tests, Kitt was found to have rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue sarcoma.

It’s a rare type of cancer and fewer than 60 children are diagnosed with it in the UK each year.

Brandreth said they ‘didn’t realise what a long journey it was going to be.’

He spoke highly of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), and said they felt ‘relieved’ finding out Kitt was going there because of its ‘world-class reputation.’

The Gogglebox star said: ‘What they do brilliantly at Great Ormond Street is remember that children are children so there was a wonderful playroom.

‘Kitt and I would do jigsaws, build things together – I’d build them up and he’d help knock them down, and I taught him funny poems.’

Receiving the cancer treatment took a toll on Kitt.

The chemotherapy caused him to lose his hair, he had to have several blood and platelet transfusions, and he suffered from liver damage as well as a bacterial infection that affected his heart.

Kitt was also diagnosed with a condition called veno-occlusive disease, which is a serious complication sometimes caused by chemotherapy.

It causes the obstruction of small veins in the liver and can lead to multi-organ failure.

The 77-year-old talked about the period during which his grandson had cancer as ’emotional’.

But he talked about the team at GOSH who he called ‘matchless at every level from the consultants right the way through to the nursing staff and everyone else.’

The hospital has pioneered advances such as CAR T-cell therapy being used on children, but many are still being treated with drugs that were developed 50 years ago.

In the last decade, 12 anti-cancer medicines have been approved for use in children and over 150 have for adult cancers.

Clinical trials take six and a half years longer on average than adult studies to reach approval stage.

GOSH Charity also says more needs to be done to find kinder cancer treatments for children.

Kitt was given the all-clear in November 2017, and has been in remission for 8 years.

He has yearly checks at GOSH and lives a normal life, which he enjoys with his family who he lives with abroad.

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