Ivan's Story

Liver Cancer Patient

As reported in the Daily Mail & New York Times

A father of two who was given just months to live is now cancer-free following a “world’s first” operation. Ivan Dagg, 53, is celebrating the end of a roller-coaster five years that at one point saw him given a 6 percent chance of surviving with chemotherapy treatment.

He first noticed something wasn’t right with his health when he began losing weight and feeling constantly exhausted in 2013. After being diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, Dagg’s health further deteriorated when the cancer spread to his liver. Despite multiple tumor removals and resections, Dagg, an inspection engineer from Hull, East Yorkshire — on England’s east coast, about four hours north of London — was still losing his fight with cancer.

But last January, Dagg underwent his final high-risk surgery at Spire Leeds Hospital that was hailed as a “world first” by doctors. It was only possible after medics found Dagg had grown a new vein in his liver, opening up a new and previously unknown avenue to recovery for others with a similar condition.

Speaking about his emotional cancer journey, Ivan said: “The last few years have been a roller coaster. I’m finally feeling positive about my future. I woke up after surgery and Professor Peter Lodge told me he had been able to remove the tumour. That was fantastic to hear.”

“Now I’m back at work and looking forward to the future with my family. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in the future but I feel very lucky. There could have been a very different outcome.”

Ivan’s surgery was carried out by Lodge, who described it as “very high risk.”

He said: “This is a brand-new liver surgery operation, truly a world first. During Ivan’s three previous operations, I had to remove major blood vessels called hepatic veins. The new tumor was involving all of the remaining hepatic veins. These major veins drain blood out of the liver and are essential for survival.”

“I did not think that the situation was operable initially, but I saw that Dagg had grown a new vein in the part of the liver that had regenerated following the previous liver resection operations.”

“Things went well, so we were able to remove the tumor successfully along with the major hepatic veins, leaving Ivan’s liver surviving on only the new vein. If he had not grown a new vein, then I would not have been able to do the surgery. This is a new avenue for developing new liver operations.”

“There is still a lot we don’t know about how the liver regenerates after liver surgery; Ivan’s case demonstrates how we must be more imaginative and strive to improve outcomes as much as we can. Without surgery, Ivan would have been faced with having only a few months to live.

“I think that chemotherapy may have given him a few extra months, but that’s all. It’s still early days, but I’m very pleased with Ivan’s progress.”