Tomas Cowpe

01 August 2011

In 2008 at just 5 years old, Tomas Cowpe was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Today, Tomas and his twin brother Daniel are helping scientists to find out what triggers leukaemia.

Tom’s parents, Paul and Samantha, tell their story:

Tomas's story
A smiling Tomas

"We were devastated by the news that our son had leukaemia.

I felt physically sick,” says Sam. “I felt like that for days afterwards and thought I’d never stop crying.”

But the family had to cope with a further blow. Tom’s diagnosis also had implications for his twin brother, Daniel.

Daniel could also develop leukaemia.

In recent years, scientists have discovered that some children are born with a predisposition to leukaemia. Their blood contains pre-leukaemic cells. Only a small proportion of these children will actually develop leukaemia.

As identical twins, Tomas and Daniel shared the same blood supply in the womb. So, if Tomas was born with pre-leukaemic cells then it was likely that Daniel also had them. In such cases, the chance of the second twin also developing leukaemia is one in ten.

Paul and Sam were heart-broken when a blood test confirmed that Daniel had the pre-leukaemic cells. They’ve had to watch Tomas go through the ordeal of chemotherapy knowing that Daniel may one day have to go through the same thing.

Tomas' treatment

Tomas is doing well. He spent a month in hospital and then continued his chemo back home. After 14 weeks, thankfully a bone marrow test confirmed he was in remission from leukaemia.

He’s now on ‘maintenance’ therapy, to make sure that the leukaemia is completely eradicated and doesn’t return.

Maintenance therapy lasts for two years. In total, Tom’s treatment will last three years and three months

He has to take daily chemotherapy tablets, and must visit hospital every four weeks for chemotherapy injections and every three months for a lumbar puncture (an injection of chemotherapy directly into his spinal fluid).

In total, Tom’s treatment will last three years and three months.

Tomas completed his treatment in January 2012.

Read more: Treating acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)

The effects on Tomas

Although Tomas is over the worst of the treatment now, he’s struggling to return to normal life.

One of the chemotherapy drugs has affected his legs, making them very weak. In-soles provided by the podiatrist have helped to correct his limp, but he can’t walk very far and finds running difficult.

Tomas is behind at school, having missed so much over the last couple of years. And he lacks confidence, depending heavily on his brother.

His mum has watched Tomas become more emotionally troubled by his illness. Now he’s older, he understands more of what is happening and worries about dying.

Thankfully Daniel remains healthy. He has monthly blood tests to check for signs of the disease progressing; these have so far been clear. The family is hopeful that his chances of developing leukaemia reduce as more time elapses since Tom’s diagnosis.

Read more: Side effects of treatment

Supporting further research

The family readily agreed to take part in important research being carried out by Professor Mel Greaves at the Institute of Cancer Research in London.

It was Professor Greaves who made the discovery that pre-leukaemic cells are present at birth in some children. He is now trying to find out what triggers these cells to develop into full-blown leukaemia.

"What we’ve been through is terrible – most of all for Tomas,” says Sam. “But it’s good to know our boys are helping the scientists discover more about this disease."

Identical twins are intriguing from a research point of view. Not only do they have the same genetic make-up, but they lead exactly the same lives. So why does one twin develop leukaemia, whilst the other remains healthy?

It was through his study of twins that Professor Greaves made his ground-breaking discovery about the pre-leukaemic cells.

Tomas and Daniel are one of three pairs of twins taking part in Professor Greaves’ ongoing research. Read more about this life-savign research in our Annual Report 2010.

Read more: Our research funding | Our Annual Report 2010

What we’ve been through is terrible – most of all for Tomas. But it’s good to know our boys are helping the scientists discover more about this disease

Sam and Paul Cowpe fundraising

Sam and Paul are helping further by raising funds for vital research. They ran the Great South Run together in 2009, Sam then went on to run the 2010 and the 2011 Virgin London Marathon!

They have already raised more than £4,000.

Visit Sam and Paul's fundraising site

How you can help

There are lots of ways that you can help children like Tomas in their fight against cancer.

Make a donation

Read more: Support us

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