South Derbyshire MP Heather Wheeler's personal assistant has told how a malignant tumour shrunk significantly after she started taking cannabis oil.
Medical researchers are now studying Lin Coxon's case after the tumour was discovered in her breast to see if it offers hope to others who find themselves in a similar situation battling cancer.
Her tumour was 33mm in size and had invaded nearby lymph nodes and muscle, the grandmother was told by doctors at the Royal Derby Hospital.
To treat the cancer doctors said she would require eight rounds of chemotherapy followed by a lumpectomy and the removal of all the lymph nodes. This would then have to be followed by radiotherapy.
However, while waiting for her chemotherapy to begin, the 69-year-old began researching the condition and read how in some cases cannabis oil had been found to help treat cancer.
One example included the case of Asda worker Karen Roberts whose remarkable health battle has been previously reported in the Burton Mail's sister paper, the Derby Telegraph.
Lin bought the same cannabinoid oil as Karen, which is legal and sold minus the component which causes a drug-related high, at a health shop and began taking it while waiting for her chemotherapy to start on August 26.
Incredibly it shrunk the tumour so much she has not had to undergo any further medical intervention.
The grandmother-of-10 said: "I was diagnosed on June 28, and obviously it was a major shock but I did some reading in the days that followed and saw there were reports that cannabis oil, which is available as a food supplement, could have beneficial effects so I decided I had nothing to lose.
"By July 24, I could not feel the tumour, before it had felt hard. With my chemotherapy due to start on August 23, I asked if I could have another scan but the hospital said no, so my GP suggested I had it done privately which I did on August 21.
"The doctor at the Nuffield Hospital was staggered when he saw the tumour had shrunk from 33mm to 11mm and my lymph nodes had gone from 25mm to 10mm. He did a mammogram and saw the whole density had changed which was amazing news, so as it was shrinking so dramatically I spoke to my consultant and deferred the chemotherapy.
"I am still taking the cannabis oil and the tumour is still shrinking and is now down to 7mm with no medical treatment and the lymph nodes are down to 4mm.
"The clinician at the Royal Derby said I should still have chemotherapy but I said I didn't want to as things were moving in the right direction. I asked my consultant if he would still be happy to monitor me and he said he would.
"Going public with this was a big decision but I do not feel I can morally keep this to myself any longer.
"I cannot say cannabis oil will work for anyone else but my experience would seem to show it is worth trying.
I feel people have nothing to lose especially if they are waiting for chemotherapy."
Lin buys the product at £39 a bottle. She has a few drops each day and a bottle lasts her 10 days.
The oil has not yet been approved for use on the NHS - but is readily available to buy online as a food supplement - although it has been widely reported to help other conditions such as arthritis, depression, MS and other illnesses.
Research into the health benefits of taking cannaboids - particularly for cancer - is currently being undertaken at St George's, University of London, and medical experts there have been in contact with Lin.
Dr Wai Liu, senior research fellow at St George's, University of London, said: "I was very interested to hear of Lin's case. Cannabidiol, which is just one element of the cannabis plant and one that does not have any psychoactive effect on people, has been shown to target communication signals that are malfunctioning in cancer cells.
"It is thought that by correcting these signals we can enable cancer cells to essentially die rather than duplicate. So it may hold the key to understanding how to defeat cancer in some areas.
"We at St George's, University of London, have shown how this can be done. Although our data has mainly been laboratory based, we have a growing and large collection of testimony from patients using cannabidiol, usually in a cannabis oil type product, who report positive effects on their battle with this dreadful disease.
"Lin's story is one that adds to this growing list and we wish her all the best in her treatment which should always be under the supervision of her doctors."
Lin said she was inspired after reading about how Karen Roberts, of Stenson Fields, who was described as "terminally ill" with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, took the oil and turned her health around.
Karen said she was sent home by the hospital to die as they said there was nothing else they could do for her - just after she lost husband Garry to leukaemia in 2015.
The hospital took away her medicine so she took the oil to initially relieve her pain - but it helped her health improve and she is now in remission.
Karen said: "I wasn't bothered at the time, I had lost Garry and was ready to go myself but my kids had read about the oil online and persuaded me to try it. That was two years ago I haven't looked back since.
"I was sent home to die but am still very much here and am due back at work in Asda in March and am looking forward to it. Lin spoke to me about what I did and I told her - I am so glad she is doing so well."
