Pioneering drug treatments for cancer: Sophie's story

Pioneering new drug treatments are showing great promise in the treatment of many cancers.

The BBC's Panorama programme spent 18 months following a group of patients at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London on a range of treatments, many of which target specific genetic mutations which drive cancer growth.

Some patients whose cancer had spread and been given months to live have kept the disease at bay for years, and the treatments increase the chance of curing patients whose disease is caught early enough.

The trials at the Royal Marsden are part of a unique collaboration with the Institute of Cancer Research - where doctors divide their time between studying the disease in the laboratory and seeing patients in hospital.

Eleven-year-old Sophie took part in the pioneering trials, with very positive outcomes, as Fergus Walsh reports.

Panorama: Can You Cure My Cancer?, 2100 GMT, Wednesday 11 February, BBC One.