Saving Dave

Dave Thornton, my cousin, has advanced Liver Cancer and having hit the end of the road with treatments that are accessible and affordable we are now seeking immunotherapy which ordinarily would be cost prohibitive.  As a community though we could make this possible for Dave and contribute to greater treatment understanding and accessibility  for others suffering from Liver Cancer. Unfortunately less is known about Liver Cancer so less treatment options that are fully funded are available.  We are hoping to raise up to $40,000  to cover initial treatment costs. Dave has spent a large part of his life being of service to others in the welfare and health sectors. He has given an enormous amount of commitment, hard work, dedication and love, over the past 30 years, particularly to those suffering from drug addictions.   So now as a community Dave is needing our urgent support and I know together we can make a difference to the quality of life of this very humble man.  We are so very grateful and deeply appreciative for any donations.  

Please read Dave's story below written by his beloved wife Nain Philp. .

My beautiful husband Dave was diagnosed with advanced primary liver cancer (Hepatocellular carcinoma) in late August 2018.  Dave is a man of integrity and enormous heart. But he is in equal measure enormously humble, modest and proud.  Putting himself out there to ask for financial support is way outside his comfort zone and it has taken a lot of persuading to get him to concede to, and agree to this go fund me campaign.  

Those who know Dave will attest to his humility, strength, courage, passion and values of social justice. He has worked tirelessly and given so much of his time, energy, passion and love to many people over many years.  But now it is his turn to reach out and ask for the help and support of others as he fights the battle of his life.

It is common for liver cancer to go undetected until it is too late.  This has certainly been Dave’s experience.  The cancer was only discovered after he suddenly collapsed due to a massive bleed from one of the tumors in his liver.  Dave was placed into an induced coma and underwent emergency surgery to stop the bleed.  Remarkably he survived this life saving and very precarious surgery.  

After recovering from this ordeal he learnt the devastating news that the bleed was the result of significant and advanced tumor growth in his liver.  In October 2018 he underwent a single round of chemoemoblisation radiation therapy however, by this time there was evidence of the cancer having seeded into the peritoneal cavity between his liver and stomach due to the bleed.

Because the cancer had spread, Dave was unable to have further radiation treatment. Once the liver cancer metastasizes radiation is no longer effective nor can you be eligible for a liver transplant.  At this time Dave was given a prognosis of  seven months to live. 

With some strong advocacy he was successful in gaining access to a new drug that had only just been in released in Australia called Lenvatinib.  As it was not yet on PBS we were able to access this drug on compassionate grounds.  Dave responded really well to this treatment for 10 months whereby the cancer was able to be slowed down and managed.  Unfortunately, in September 2019 we learnt that the cancer had progressed slightly and therefore, the drug was deemed to be no longer effective.  He was placed on another older and less effective drug named Sorafanib and continued on this until early March of this year when again there was further progression of the cancer and he was taken off the drug due to the cancer becoming resistant to the treatment. Since being taken off the Sorafanib is March his cancer has progressed rapidly with the tumors in the peritoneal having doubled in size.  Dave has deteriorated significantly.  

The only treatments being offered now are immunotherapy treatments that we would need to fund ourselves.

We had hoped that Dave would be able to access a couple of phase 1 clinical trials for Immunotherapy earlier this year but unfortunately both these options fell through, the latest one set to begin in March wouldn’t allow Dave to go ahead because he didn’t have a tissue biopsy taken at the time of his diagnosis for comparison.  Having exhausted options in the Public arena we are now in the position that we need to go through the private oncology sector to access Immunotherapy which comes at a very high cost although has given us further hope.

I am asking for your generosity to help Dave continue this huge battle.  Any contribution, even the smallest offerings will help.  If Dave responds well to this immunotherapy treatment it could offer him a better quality of life,  reprieve from his pain and provide more precious time with him, as well as support others to access similar treatment in the future.