Vicky Phelan returns from US after scan shows new tumours

CervicalCheck campaigner Vicky Phelan has returned to Ireland for palliative chemotherapy, after a scan revealed she has new tumours.

Ms Phelan has been in the the US for most of this year, receiving experimental cancer treatment.

In a social media post, she revealed she received some “bad news” in the scan and was advised by doctors to return to Ireland to spend time with her family before starting down “the chemotherapy road”.

She said she is no longer eligible for proton beam therapy since her tumours are too extensive.

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"The 'good' news is that I can still have treatment and that this treatment will keep me alive until Christmas at least," she said, writing on Instagram. "The bad news is that the treatment I am about to start on is extremely toxic and will take its toll on my body and my mind."

The Limerick woman was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014 but was given the all-clear after treatment.

Three years ago, however, she was informed that an audit carried out by CervicalCheck found that her 2011 smear test had been reported as a false negative.

Her cancer returned and she was given a terminal diagnosis. She went public and was awarded €2.5 million in 2018 by the High Court.

Ms Phelan said she will be taking a break from social media over the next few weeks and will only post very sporadically.