I had 11 years of chemotherapy for a cancer I didn't have

Becky Jones was informed at age 21 that she had a terminal brain tumour and only months to live. The diagnosis, delivered by an experienced cancer consultant, prompted 11 years of chemotherapy that reshaped her life. She described frequent nausea, an inability to join household events, a curtailed career and a constant feeling of being “on eggshells.” Now 33, Jones has learned she never had cancer; instead she suffered from an inflammation of the brain that could have been treated with steroids. She is one of more than 40 patients pursuing legal action against University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust for prolonged or unnecessary cancer treatment. “I was told time and time again without the chemotherapy I would die,” she said. As a young woman, Jones says Professor Ian Brown at University Hospital, Coventry, advised she would need to take the chemotherapy drug temozolomide (TMZ) for the remainder of her life. This recommendation conflicts with guidelines that advise six cycles over six months. When she questioned multiple scans that failed to show a tumour, Brown reportedly told her the growth would not be “visible to the bare eye.” It was only in 2025, during a review of cancer cases at the trust linked to Brown, that she discovered the truth. “I never had a brain tumour. I was misdiagnosed and I’ve gone through all this treatment for the main portion of my adult life, for no reason,” she said. “He’s just ruined my life, essentially,” she added. Numerous other patients of Brown have told the BBC they received TMZ for years, citing serious medical consequences. One patient believes the drug caused her infertility; another developed leukaemia after 100 unnecessary cycles. A preliminary review by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) found that patients at the hospital were routinely given extended courses of the drug with “little or no evidence of benefit.” The review identified unit failings that amounted to a “betrayal of patient trust” and questioned why oncology pharmacy teams did not challenge patients receiving oral chemotherapy continuously for 10 to 15 years. UHCW declined to comment on individual cases but said measures have been introduced to ensure “more robust oversight of the medication and use of