When local options ran out, Lutetium-177 PSMA Therapy at Icon Cancer Centre London gave Geoff and his family new hope for the future.
A Journey for Hope: Theranostics
A Journey for Hope: Theranostics Lutetium-177 PSMA Therapy at Icon Cancer Centre London
When Geoff Forster and his wife Eunice were told there were no more treatment options for his advanced prostate cancer, their world changed in an instant.
“It’s difficult to hear you’re being referred to palliative care,” Geoff recalls.
“We were out of options. Chemotherapy and hormone treatments had run their course, and the cancer kept coming back.”
A ray of hope in the dark
But hope can appear in unexpected places – and, in this case, in the middle of the night.
“Eunice was reading a story about a member of Duran Duran who’d undergone a new nuclear medicine treatment. She started researching and discovered Lutetium-177 PSMA therapy,” Geoff shares.
With relentless determination, Eunice reached out to the few London hospitals offering this advanced treatment.
“CCL was the only one that got back to us,” Eunice says.
“From the very first email, Angie, Rachel, Stephanie, Julian, Dr Du and the team made us feel seen, heard, and supported. We thought, maybe this is something we can do.”
The journey from Chester to London began around March 2025 and became their new routine, with Geoff and Eunice making four trips to London roughly six weeks apart, with another, possibly final, treatment imminent in September 2025 (at the time of publishing). This treatment involves five or six sessions.
“You only usually go to London for nice things – shows, sightseeing. But now it’s part of our life, and the team at CCL have become like friends to us,” says Geoff. “They’re just fabulous.”
The impact of theranostics treatment
For Geoff, the impact of treatment was almost immediate.
“The day before my first treatment, my PSA was 660. Just before my third, it had dropped to 24. That brings a smile to your face,” he laughs.
Consultant Physician in Nuclear Medicine, Dr Yong Du, treats Geoff at CCL.
“Lu-177-PSMA delivers targeted radiation directly to the cancer cells and thus, even when the prostate cancer has become resistant to hormones and chemotherapy like in Geoff’s case, this highly targeted treatment still has very good efficacy,” Dr Du said.
“More encouragingly, because the treatment is so much more targeted, it has little, if any side effects to other organs. I am proud to have brought this treatment to the United Kingdom seven years ago, and many hundreds of my patients like Geoff have benefited.”
Rediscovering hope and time
For Eunice and Geoff, choosing to invest their retirement savings in treatment instead of travel was a simple decision. “We looked at each other and said, we’d rather spend the money on more time together,” says Eunice.
Family and friends have been a constant source of support, even if they don’t always understand the journey.
“We’ve been married 41 years, and we’ve always been a team,” Geoff says. “We have three granddaughters, and my goal is for them to remember their grandad – not just as a photo.”
Geoff’s story has become a source of inspiration for others. At his local prostate cancer support group, when he shared the dramatic drop in his PSA, he received a round of applause.
“It gives people hope,” he says.
Geoff’s advice
Geoff’s most recent blood test showed a PSA level of 11.9, which he and Eunice agree is “mind blowing”.
So, what advice would Geoff give to others facing a similar journey?
“Don’t accept it when you’re told there’s nothing left. Do your own research, try everything, and don’t give up. If it wasn’t for Eunice, I might have just accepted it. But she wouldn’t let me – and here I am.”
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