Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor is sharing some positive news about his battle with cancer.
The 62-year-old musician, who revealed his stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis in November 2022 (he was initially diagnosed in 2018), says he expects to live another five years thanks to a “nuclear medicine” called Lutetium-177.
Taylor tells BBC Breakfast that scientists contacted him about the drug, which is designed to designed to specifically target cancer cells.
“It can’t see healthy cells,” says Taylor, who had his first treatment about six weeks ago. “It kills stage four cancer in your bones. And so what it’s effectively done is extend my life for five years.”
Lutetium-177 was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2022. The drug has “proven to significantly improve prostate cancer survival rates and quality of life, as well as extend the time it takes for the disease to progress,” according to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Taylor revealed his cancer diagnosis through a letter read by his bandmates during their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall last November. The guitarist was expected to join members Simon LeBon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor at the group’s induction in Los Angeles, but had to miss it due to his illness.
Taylor told BBC that he was “massively disappointed” to miss the Rock Hall ceremony, which he referred to as “the biggest night of my life.”
The guitarist says the Lutetium-177 treatment is allowing him to finish his upcoming solo album, Man’s a Wolf to Man, which is scheduled for release in September.
Earlier this year, Duran Duran confirmed that Taylor will be contributing to the group’s forthcoming album. The band is also honoring the guitarist with a one-off benefit concert for cancer awareness at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, Calif., on Aug. 19.
Read more
