Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor is sharing some cheerful news about his struggle with cancer.
The 62-year-old musician, who exposed his stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis in November 2022 (he was initially diagnosed in 2018), says he has another five years to live grateful to a “nuclear medicine” called lutetium-177, hopefully.
Taylor told BBC Breakfast that scientists had approached him about the drug, which has been designed to specifically target cancer cells.
“It can’t see healthy cells,” says Andy Taylor, who had his first treatment about six weeks ago. “It kills stage four cancer in your bones. And so what it’s effectively done is extend my life for five years.”
In March 2022, Lutetium-177 was supported by the US Food and Drug Administration.
According to the University of Chicago Medical Center, the drug has been “proven to significantly improve prostate cancer survival rates and quality of life, as well as prolong the time it takes the disease to progress.”
Taylor revealed his cancer diagnosis last November through a letter read by his bandmates during his inauguration into the Rock and Roll Hall. The guitarist desired to attend the group’s inauguration in Los Angeles, along with members Simon LeBon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor but was unable to attend due to his illness.
Andy Taylor told the BBC that he was “very disappointed” to miss the Rock Hall ceremony, which he called “the biggest night of my life”.
The guitarist says the lutetium-177 treatment is allowing him to complete his upcoming solo album, From a Wolf to Man, which is due for release in September.
Earlier this year, Duran Duran confirmed that Andy Taylor would contribute to the group’s upcoming album. The band is also honoring the guitarist with a benefit concert for cancer awareness on August 19 at the Guild Theater in Menlo Park, California.
“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,” the rocker added.