A dad who was given weeks to live after being diagnosed with a brain tumour survived for more than two years and his wife believes it's all due to the use of cannabis oil.
Dad-of-two Neil Lanciano, 46, was informed he had glioblastoma (GBM) in April 2020. The paint shop manager, from Innsworth Gloucester, had surgery and doctors at Southmead Hospital in Bristol were able to remove 94 per cent of his tumour.
Only six weeks after the surgery, which left him with partial paralysis and speech difficulties, doctors discovered the tumour had returned to its full size and was growing.
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Tragically, further scans revealed smaller tumours had developed in other areas on Lanciano’s brain and gruelling chemotherapy and radiotherapy failed to help.
Doctors ended his treatment as further surgery was considered too dangerous and Lanciano was told he only had a few weeks to live.
‘Compelled’ to do something to improve her husband’s chances, his wife, Hayley Lanciano, 38, resorted to illegal drugs.
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"I was desperate to give Neil some kind of quality of life, for his sake and so he could be here a bit longer to watch our teenage daughters, Abbie and Emily, grow up,” the playgroup manager told The Mirror.
Cannabis oil is a Class B drug, making it illegal in the UK due to its THC levels. Despite this, Hayley paid £16,000 to purchase the drugs online over a two-year period, with the money sourced from mortgage payments.
Lanciano would use two bottles of the drugs each months and he defied the expectations of his doctors by living a further two years after his NHS treatment came to an end.
In July last year, a scan revealed that the small scatter of tumours on Lanciano’s brain had disappeared completely although the bigger tumour remained.
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His wife believes his prolonged survival was due to cannabis oil, which helped alleviate his suffering.
She explained: “His healthcare team said Neil was a 'miracle case' which they couldn't explain.
"Neil had no other treatment and the only explanation I can think of is that the combination of cannabis oil and regular exercise played a big and positive part in Neil's journey.
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"Without our critical illness cover we wouldn't have financially been able to afford for the £712 month payment for the oil. He used the oil for 24 months and it cost us around £16,000 in total.
"Neil survived more than two years after he stopped all radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment."
Lanciano stopped taking the drugs when he was ‘in the final stages of his life’. He died aged 46 on 29 November, 2022.
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Since his diagnosis, Lanciano’s family has raised more than £5,000 for the Brain Tumour Research charity.
Only 12 per cent of people diagnosed with a brain tumour live beyond five years, compared to an average of 54 percent across all cancers.
Cancer Research UK says research is currently underway to see if the substances in cannabis might help treat cancer.
Gregory Robinson