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At 25, D’Arcy Bowker was a competitive swimmer and runner. She was in the middle of training for a half-marathon, when she suddenly began blacking out. The incident was followed by more than  a year of uncertainty before doctors finally discovered the cause: pheochromocytoma, a rare neuroendocrine tumour on her adrenal gland.  Surgeons removed the tumour and soon after, D’Arcy gave birth to her first child.

Subsequent genetic testing uncovered a hereditary mutation (SDHD) that could cause tumours to grow on any nerve bundle in her body.  Her sisters and daughter also tested positive for the mutation.  

Then, while D’Arcy was pregnant with her second child, her medical team discovered a lesion on her liver. The cancer had metastasized, and she had several small tumours.  By this time, she was under the care of Dr. Shereen Ezzat, an endocrinologist at The Princess Margaret, who immediately recognized that a regular course of chemotherapy would not be effective. He referred her to radiation oncologist Dr. Rebecca Wong, who could connect her with more treatment options.  

Dr. Wong enrolled D’Arcy in a donor-funded clinical trial that she was running for Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT), a form of theranostics that delivers high-dose radiation directly to tumour cells while sparing healthy tissue.  

“If I didn’t do this trial, there weren’t a lot of other options for me. It’s an incurable cancer,” says D’Arcy. “It was all such a fast turnaround. I signed up in December 2020 and started in January 2021.”  

She underwent four rounds of treatment, six weeks apart. The treatment was successful, and her cancer is now at bay.  While not cured, she knows she can receive the procedure again if needed.  

Her sisters are also now routinely tested, and she keeps a close eye on her daughter.  

Today, D’Arcy is a psychotherapist supporting people living with chronic illness. She continues to monitor her health and that of her family and recently welcomed her third child.  

Thanks to the support of donors like you, more clinical trials are being offered to cancer patients like D’Arcy.


“I’m so grateful. By being part of this clinical trial, I not only saved myself. I am saving others…the nature of ‘incurable’ is that I still have cancer and metastatic disease, but it is not progressing (yet) thanks to this treatment!”

- D’Arcy Bowker

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