A father of three from Ramsey is urging the public to support this year’s Stand Up To Cancer campaign after a clinical trial funded by the initiative helped save his life following a shock cancer diagnosis.

Mark Newey, 58, was told he had tonsil cancer in February 2024, a discovery made only because he visited his GP about an unrelated elbow injury.

Now in remission, he says he owes his recovery to early action, specialist surgery, and his participation in a pioneering trial supported by Stand Up To Cancer, the joint fundraising campaign led by Cancer Research UK and Channel 4.

Mark had noticed a small lump on the side of his neck which vanished when he turned his head, but had not initially been concerned.

While attending his GP to have fluid drained from his elbow, he mentioned the lump and was referred for tests. Within weeks, he received the devastating news that he had cancer.

He underwent major surgery at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool, where surgeons removed his left tonsil, a lymph gland and 15 lymph nodes, leaving a scar from his ear to his Adam’s apple. Recovering was difficult, and he was unable to eat solid food for several weeks.

Mark was later invited to join the PATHOS trial, funded by Stand Up To Cancer, which is testing whether some patients can safely receive less intensive treatment without affecting their chance of recovery.

Dad and tonsil cancer survivor, Mark Newey, is urging people to support Stand Up To Cancer this December after he says a clinical trial funded by the campaign helped save his life. Pictured with his children (l-r) Travis, Zelda and Axel.
Dad and tonsil cancer survivor, Mark Newey, is urging people to support Stand Up To Cancer this December after he says a clinical trial funded by the campaign helped save his life. Pictured with his children (l-r) Travis, Zelda and Axel. (-)

Instead of the usual combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Mark was randomly selected to receive radiotherapy alone over six weeks at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.

‘I stayed away from Google the entire time, I wanted to stay positive, deal with it head on and just put my trust in the doctors,’ he said.

‘Following that I had been due to have radiotherapy and chemo but then I was randomised as part of the trial, and I only needed radiotherapy. I was a bit concerned about this… but I spoke to the team who reassured me.’

In December last year, he was told there was ‘no sign of cancer’.

After retiring as Detective Chief Inspector in 2023 following a 30-year career with the Isle of Man Constabulary, Mark now works as Head of the Communications Division for the Department of Home Affairs.

He says the support of his children and colleagues was vital during treatment, which came months after he separated from his wife. To mark his recovery, he recently had a tattoo of a phoenix holding a cancer ribbon.

‘Cancer can affect anyone’s life, at any time,’ he said. ‘That’s why now is the time for everyone across the Isle of Man to Stand Up To Cancer.’

Around 5,500 people on the island were diagnosed with cancer between 2011 and 2021.

Stand Up To Cancer has raised more than £113m since 2012, funding 73 clinical trials and research projects.

Cancer Research UK spokesperson Jemma Humphreys said: ‘Almost one in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime… If thousands of us stand together, we’ll speed up the progress of vital research.’

This year’s Stand Up To Cancer programming airs on Friday night on Channel 4.