BBC News, South East
BBCBBC News, South East
An internationally-renowned fashion designer and a former model, both from Kent, have teamed up with a UK charity to highlight a misunderstood type of cancer.
Zandra Rhodes, 84, who has designed clothes for celebrities including Freddie Mercury, Marc Bolan, and Princess Diana, said she first noticed something was wrong during a yoga class in 2020.
She said: “I breathed in and my stomach was full. Something made me think to have an x-ray. It must have been an act of God.”
Ms Rhodes, who was born in Chatham, had a 13cm (5.1 inch) growth in her bile duct and was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma.
Cholangiocarcinoma causes blockage of bile ducts between the liver and bowel. Symptoms include lethargy, dark urine, pale stools, and jaundice, according to the NHS.
“I didn’t have any pain,” she added. “It was a really wonderful doctor who sent me to a clinic to have something done about it.”
Ms Rhodes received treatment for her condition and continues to have regular immunotherapy in remission.
Her diagnosis encouraged her to set up The Zandra Rhodes Foundation to preserve her work, and to campaign with cholangiocarcinoma charity AMMF.
Former model Charlie Shrager, born in Meopham near Gravesend, was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma in 2022.
Ms Shrager had most of her liver and gall bladder removed but the cancer returned in 2023. She is heading to the US for treatment later in February.
Helen Morement, chief executive of AMMF, said about 3,000 people were diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma each year.
She said: “This is becoming a serious cancer, not only in the UK but across the world.”
The charity has worked with celebrity photographer Rankin to launch the campaign The Faces of Cholangiocarcinoma, which shows eight patients who are receiving treatment for the condition.
The charity will go to Westminster to campaign on behalf of patients this month.
