BBC Radio 5 Live presenter and mother-of-two reveals she's battling a rare aggressive cancer that only four people in the UK suffer from - and admits it's been 'lonely and traumatic'

  • Kate Williams,  from Northampton, has opened up about her battle with cancer
  • Diagnosed with rare, aggressive cystic peritoneal mesothelioma in 2017 
  • Said being diagnosed was 'an absolute nightmare' and doctors were 'fascinated' 
  • She was warned it was 'very, very bad' and called her experience 'really lonely' 

BBC Radio5Live presenter and mother-of-two Kate Williams has revealed her battle with a rare and aggressive form of cancer that just four people in the UK suffer from.

Katie, who was diagnosed with rare, aggressive cystic peritoneal mesothelioma in 2017, said it was 'an absolute nightmare' being diagnosed, and the experience 'lonely and traumatic.'

She described on Radio 5 Live's podcast You, Me and The Big C how the cancer, which affects the abdominal cavity, had made her 'insides look like bubble wrap.'   

Kate, who is married with two children, said she was warned by a doctor during her diagnosis that it was 'very bad.'

BBC newsreader Kate Williams said being diagnosed with the rare form of cystic peritoneal mesothelioma was 'an absolute nightmare' and believes she is one of four people with the cancer in the UK

BBC newsreader Kate Williams said being diagnosed with the rare form of cystic peritoneal mesothelioma was 'an absolute nightmare' and believes she is one of four people with the cancer in the UK  

Calling the process of being diagnosed 'a nightmare', she described how she was motivated to go to the doctors after her husband had become ill.

The newsreader said: 'It started with my husband being really ill with a perforated bowel, and then I started to get the same symptoms and I thought that was really weird.

'I had to pull over in the car because I was so much pain.'

In August 2017, as she was waiting for her son's GCSE results, she was asked to come into hospital immediately. 

Kate was diagnosed in September 2017 with the rare disease, and said her experience had been 'lonely'

Kate was diagnosed in September 2017 with the rare disease, and said her experience had been 'lonely' 

She explained that she had attended the hospital appointment alone, but knew it was bad news when she saw four doctors were attending.

The cancer affects the abdominal cavity, which is the large space in the body bound by the abdominal walls, diaphragm and pelvis. 

She explained: 'Initially they thought it was ovarian cancer because there was a mass on my tummy. 

'Instead of going out to celebrate my sons GCSE results I was in hospital.' 

The Radio 5 Live presenter opened up about her cancer diagnosis on the You, Me and The Big C podcast (pictured, left to right Deborah James, Kate Williams, Steve Bland, Doctor Paul Huang and Jack Morgan)

The Radio 5 Live presenter opened up about her cancer diagnosis on the You, Me and The Big C podcast (pictured, left to right Deborah James, Kate Williams, Steve Bland, Doctor Paul Huang and Jack Morgan) 

Speaking about her rare the disease is, Kate explained:  'My insides looked like bubble wrap. You get loads and loads of cysts, it was coating all over my abdomen.' 

She went on: 'The doctor had obviously never seen anything like it. You could tell.' 

'They told me "I can't get hold of your husband", and I said "Is it cancer?", and the doctor said, "It's bad, it's very bad".' 

Saying that doctors remained 'fascinated' by her cancer, she said: 'If you look at the medical literature, they often quote 153 cases in the world.

Kate said doctors remained 'fascinated' by her cancer, and said it was 'traumatic' having to explain it every time she met a new doctor (pictured, lecturing at University of Northampton)

Kate said doctors remained 'fascinated' by her cancer, and said it was 'traumatic' having to explain it every time she met a new doctor (pictured, lecturing at University of Northampton) 

'And in the UK I know of three other people, mainly through a Facebook group that I joined.

'If you look at mesothelioma it's not a nice one to look at. It's very aggressive, malignant, quite often caused by asbestos.' 

Initially she and her husband didn't tell anyone, choosing to let their oldest son, who was celebrating his A Level results with a backpacking trip around Greece, enjoy his holiday.  

What is  Benign Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma? 

Benign Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma (BMPM) is a rare condition that affects the abdominal cavity. 

Fewer than 200 cases have been reported worldwide.

BMPM usually affects premenopausal women and is extremely rare in men. 

Many factors are suspected to contribute to its development, such as previous surgery, endometriosis, and familial Mediterranean fever.

The main management is surgical resection; however, it is estimated that the recurrence rate is up to 50%.

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Kate said the rare disease was 'really lonely' explaining: 'It's also quite traumatic because every time [I see a new doctor] I have to explain it.'

The main treatment for the cancer is surgical resection, and involves removing several internal bowels.   

She described her course of surgery, explaining: 'It's called MOAS - mother of all surgeries.

"It's official name is cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC - which is hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.' 

The newsreader explained: 'They took out the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, greater omentum, lesser omentum, pelvic peritoneum, another bit of my peritoneum.'

She added: 'I keep saying I'm lucky or it wasn't too bad - my surgery was only about six hours.

'People say "oh six hours", but some patients who have this, it's 12 to 14 hours.'

But asked about whether she had ever questioned whether to have the surgery, she explained: 'There was an alien that had taken over my belly and I wanted it out.' 

She said she still has problems in her bowels and stomach following the surgery, as well as weak bones and will continue to have annual scans for the foreseeable future. 

She added: 'They never say you are all clear. Because there's so few of us that have it, the stats are you can have up to 70 per cent re-occurrence.' 

Kate (right) pictured with colleagues from the University of Northampton, including Helen Poole, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Health and Society (left)

Kate (right) pictured with colleagues from the University of Northampton, including Helen Poole, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Health and Society (left)

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