After being diagnosed with stomach cancer, Mavis De La Pierre, a grandmother from Melbourne, Victoria, participated in the AGITG AGO407GR/TROG 08.08 – TOPGEAR clinical trial, which investigated whether adding radiation therapy to chemotherapy prior to surgery would improve outcomes for patients with gastric cancer.

Mavis De La Pierre had no hesitation in signing up to take part in the TOPGEAR trial to investigate the best mix of therapies for treating gastric cancer.

Mavis, now 78, sought medical advice five years ago after experiencing some difficulties swallowing. Tests revealed a frightening diagnosis.

“I knew something was wrong, but I was so shocked when I was told that I had stomach cancer,” she says.

Mavis, who lives alone and has a daughter and granddaughter living in regional Victoria, was offered the option of participating in the TOPGEAR trial while having treatment under trial Chief Investigator Professor Trevor Leong.

The trial investigated whether adding radiation therapy to the standard gastric cancer treatment of chemotherapy then surgery would be beneficial.

Mavis says she was informed about the clinical trial by medical staff and was happy to join.

“These type of studies are how people get to learn more about cancer,” she says. “I just went with it.”

Prior to surgery, she underwent three rounds of chemotherapy, followed by five weeks of radiation therapy, five days a week, as part of the TOPGEAR trial.

She says that following her successful gastrectomy surgery, the surgeon told her the tumour had shrunk by 95%.

The TOPGEAR trial results, published this year, showed the addition of radiation therapy treatment to chemotherapy didn’t actually change overall survival rates for patients with gastric cancer, although there were some impacts on tumour size and other cancer measures.  Thanks to patients like Mavis, the trial findings are set to change gastric cancer treatment pathways and save patients from undergoing unnecessary additional treatment.

Mavis says the treatment was far from easy, but the end-result of getting the cancer “all clear” after therapy and surgery made it worthwhile.

“Naturally I wanted to get better, and it worked for me. If being in a trial is helpful in learning the best way to treat people with the horrible ‘C’ – cancer – I’m happy to have taken part,” she says.

Read about the journey of another TOPGEAR trial participant: Sebastian’s story