Duran Duran star Andy Taylor says cancer drug has given him five more years

Virgin Radio

11 Aug 2023, 14:00

Former Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor has opened up about a drug he is taking to treat his prostate cancer, and said that it has extended his life "for five years".

The musician revealed last year that he has stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer after he was forced to miss the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony due to his ongoing treatment. He was diagnosed four years prior. 

Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning (11th August), the rock icon explained how a Prof Sir Chris Evans, founder of the Cancer Awareness Trust, got in touch with him after he had gone public about his diagnosis, to offer him, “a nuclear medicine, Lutetium-177, which is targeted so it only sees cancer cells”.

Taylor said (via BBC News): “It can't see healthy cells. He added: "It kills stage four cancer in your bones. And so what it's effectively done is extend my life for five years."

Explaining that he had to be in "very, very good health" before he could have the new drug, he said: “I really took care of myself in a different way.

"And then after the first round of treatment I said, 'If I'm OK, and you guys say I'm OK and do your blood tests, is it OK to start work again - light work and get out?”

He added: “I don't want to be a patient stuck here. I want to be a working patient, a little beacon of hope, because this stuff - cancer - just drags you and your family down in the darkness.”

Regarding not being able to attend his former band’s induction to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles last November, he said: “I missed the biggest night of my life.”

Whilst the guitar player was supposed to join his old bandmates at the event, frontman Simon Le Bon instead revealed the cancer diagnosis and read a letter onstage from his former bandmate.

Andy told BBC Breakfast that before then, "no-one really knew, just family and a few friends".

Duran Duran are raising money for charity in aid of Cancer Awareness Trust, with a concert which takes place in California on 19th August.

Frontman Simon Le Bon said in a statement: “We are heading to Northern California to play many of the songs that we wrote together with our dear friend, Andy Taylor, to help him and others in their fight against prostate cancer.

“It is the right thing to do.”

Meanwhile, Taylor will release a new album, Man's A Wolf To Man, in September.