Press release posted 29 May 2025
An avid football and rugby league fan from Northwich has made a remarkable recovery from the most advanced type of lung cancer.
Warrington Wolves and Manchester United fan Jeff Cook, age 76 years, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in February 2019. Stage 4 cancer is the most advanced form of cancer and indicates that the cancer has spread from the initial tumour site to other parts of the body.
Jeff, who has been married to Carol for over 50 years, has 2 sons, Gavin and Martin. He gave up smoking more than 20 years ago.
Towards the end of 2018, Jeff realised something might be wrong when, despite being prescribed antibiotics for a sore on the left side of his chest, this wasn’t getting any better. Jeff’s GP referred him to a chest consultant at Leighton Hospital to discuss possible surgery.
“The consultant at Leighton told me to prepare myself for bad news and confirmed I had advanced lung cancer,” said Jeff. “He consulted with his colleague Dr Woolf, and I was then told that I was a suitable candidate for a fairly new immunotherapy treatment called pembrolizumab.
“But first, I needed to have radiotherapy to target the tumour directly. Then, I attended the treatment unit at Leighton, initially once every 3 weeks and later once every 6 weeks for the pembrolizumab, which took about two hours to administer intravenously each time.
“The staff were very welcoming. The receptionist always gave me a cheery welcome, and before the COVID-19 pandemic, we even got tea and biscuits from one of the volunteers. The nurses always treated me well, too.
"The pembrolizumab was kind to my body, and I had no noticeable side effects from the treatment. After 3 or 4 treatments, I was leading a normal life again. I was on pembrolizumab for 2 years, during which time I had regular blood tests, review appointments and CT scans. The review appointments moved to being on the telephone during the pandemic.
“Considering I had such an advanced cancer, and the survival statistics were not in my favour, I feel like the pembrolizumab has been a medical miracle. I’m able to live life to the full as a result.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Dr Woolf and all the NHS staff who have helped me during my treatment and to the scientists and researchers who helped to develop such a wonderful life-saving drug.
Dr David Woolf added: “I am delighted that Jeff has had such a positive response to his treatment and is now cancer-free 6 years after his diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer and living life to the full.
“Stage 4 lung cancer remains very serious with average survival figures of less than a year. However new treatments such as immunotherapy are a game changer for some of our patients. We still need to do better at diagnosing patients earlier though and continuing to develop new and better treatments.”
Jeff and Carol enjoy going on holiday and taking short breaks. They also regularly take part in a fortnightly quiz night at their local cricket club.
Jeff has been associated with the scouting movement throughout his life; from cubs to being an assistant scout leader, he is a proud recipient of the Queen's Scout award. He also enjoys spending time in his garden, feeding the birds and planting borders.