Mum Kelly’s the face of cancer trials campaign

STAR . . . mum-of-three Kelly Griffin will appear in a new Cancer Research UK awareness campaign

AN OLDHAM mum-of-three stars in a new Cancer Research UK awareness campaign, launched today.

Cancer sufferer Kelly Griffin (33) will front the month-long campaign, which highlights the power of cancer clinical trials in helping to save lives.

Kelly, from Bardsley, is currently taking part in a trial after being diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago, on her youngest son’s third birthday.

The trials show whether new tests and treatments are safe, what their side effects are and whether they are better than current treatments.

Huge posters showing Kelly at home, with her dog Coco, will be displayed at bus shelters and outside shopping centres across Greater Manchester.

They will also be used in hospitals including Manchester Royal Infirmary, Trafford General Hospital, and The Christie.

Kelly hopes the posters will help people see clinical trials as a normal and essential part of research and treatment for cancer.

She said: “I know from personal experience that clinical trials are vital, both to people like me receiving treatment now and to future generations.

“I hope that when men and women see my picture around Manchester, it will help them understand that cancer does not have to be a death sentence anymore.

Kelly was diagnosed in 2011 after finding a lump and being sent for hospital tests by her GP.

Scans showed the cancer had spread to her liver and her oncologist at the Christie hospital asked her to take part in an international clinical trial.

Kelly is now nearly two years into the treatment — a double hit of Herceptin and chemotherapy delivered directly to cancer cells.

Kelly’s treatment is focused on her liver, where the cancer had spread, but doctors hope it could also help to stop her cancer spreading to other organs.