• Amelia Page discovered she had aggressive stomach cancer in January
• Doctors gave the former teaching assistant, from Wales, months to live 
• She is taking part in a trial of an aerosol spray released inside her stomach
• However, Ms Page is also having traditional chemotherapy at the same time
• The 30-year-old claims she is ‘not as riddled’ with the disease now 

By STEPHEN MATTHEWS HEALTH EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE

A bride-to-be who as told she had terminal cancer claims a revolutionary aerosol spray is keeping her alive.

Amelia Page discovered she had aggressive stomach cancer in January, shortly after celebrating her 30th birthday.

Doctors gave the former teaching assistant just months to live, warning the disease had spread to her ovaries, bowel, pelvis and kidneys.

In the hope of finding a cure Ms Page is now enrolled in a trial of a treatment which sprays chemotherapy drugs directly onto the cancer using keyhole surgery. She is receiving this treatment alongside traditional chemo. 

And now, Ms Page claims she is ‘not as riddled with it’ and surgeons hope they may eventually be able to remove her disease.

Ms Page told the Daily Post: ‘Everything seems to be going really well, which is a little bit different to what I was originally told.

‘Chemotherapy goes through your bloodstream but with this, they spray the cancer with an aerosol through keyhole surgery.

‘They’ve been taking images of my insides and you can see the difference from when I first started to now. My ovaries are less swollen and the cancer has shrunk in size.’

She said ‘everything is going in the right direction’, adding: ‘I’m not as riddled with it now as I was when I was first diagnosed.

‘They’re really pleased with how it’s going and they said because I’m responding so well to it that I can keep going with it.’

Ms Page, who lived in Dubai until recently, said: ‘There is no end date at the moment. It all depends on so many different factors.

‘But if it keeps going the way it’s going now, the cancer will continue to get smaller and smaller and then hopefully, they’ll be able to remove what’s left.’

Ms Page returned to the UK to visit her family in Gaerwen, Anglesey for Christmas when test results from her doctor in Dubai came back. 

The results revealed she had ovarian cancer, but that was secondary to the primary disease in her stomach. 

She is reportedly one of only three people in the UK undergoing a trial for PIPAC – pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy.

The treatment is being given alongside regular chemotherapy she is receiving at Ysbyty (Hospital) Gwynedd in Bangor.

The aerosol treatment does not work by inhalation and is only given through surgery. The technique was developed by researchers in Germany in 2013.

Although it’s still being tested, it has shown promising results against cancers in the abdomen – where the treatment is directly applied. 

Surgeons need to create an incision in the patient’s abdomen for the procedure and two pumps are then inserted to deliver the experimental treatment.

The medics then inject air to make an artificial cavity, which is needed to deliver PIPAC therapy. Once the two pumps are in place, the chemotherapy is released into the inflated cavity and left there.

Surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses have to leave the operating theatre to avoid inhalation or exposure to leaks. After 30 minutes, the product is extracted through a powerful miniature pump and the incisions closed.

Oncologists claim it reduces side effects – a common problem reported by patients given chemotherapy – because the potent drugs don’t have to circulate through the patient’s blood. 

Weeks after her diagnosis, Ms Page’s then-boyfriend Luke Skinnader proposed on Llanddona beach, Anglesey.

The pair, who originally had plans to tie the knot in Las Vegas, will marry in Donegal in Ireland in September.

‘We’ve decided to have a small wedding in Donegal in Ireland where Luke is from, and then we’ll go to Dubai and celebrate there,’ she said.

‘We’re so excited for the wedding, I just can’t wait to become his wife. It will be good fun.’

She added: ‘My whole perspective on life has totally changed. I’m so laid back and I’ve learnt that I don’t need to be busy all the time to be successful and happy. 

‘I don’t put as much pressure on myself anymore. I just do what makes me feel good.

‘Now, I feel like I’ve accomplished something in the day if I’ve just seen my family, spent time with Luke or just walked the dog.’

Ms Page hopes one day she will beat her stomach cancer, which strikes around 6,600 people in the UK each year. 

She dreams of becoming a vegan chef or a nurse, after experiencing first-hand how ‘amazing’ they all are. 

Bowel Cancer UK says it will be ‘several years’ before PIPAC is assessed by NICE, a body which approves drugs for use on the NHS.

For now, patients can only access the treatment through trials. It is thought to be given to cancer patients every six to eight weeks.