Best known for her powerful portrayal of Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown and as Bruce Willis’ wife in The Sixth Sense, British actress Olivia Williams has recently made a heartbreaking revelation—she will never be “cancer-free.” Her disclosure sheds light on the devastating impact of delayed cancer diagnosis, particularly with rare cancers like pancreatic VIPoma.

In an emotionally candid interview with The Times UK, Williams, now 56, opened up about the prolonged and frustrating journey that led to her pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2018—four years after her symptoms first began. Her story, though deeply personal, echoes a broader systemic problem that continues to affect countless lives across the globe.

Williams’ ordeal began in her early 40s with seemingly unconnected symptoms: chronic diarrhea, limb aches, and relentless fatigue. These vague signs were chalked up by different doctors to conditions like perimenopause, lupus, IBS, and even psychological stress.

“I went to about 21 doctor visits,” she said. “One doctor even referred me for a psychiatric assessment.” This type of medical gaslighting, where patients (especially women) are told their symptoms are imaginary or exaggerated, remains alarmingly common.

It wasn’t until she consulted a physician in Los Angeles that she was correctly diagnosed with a VIPoma—a rare pancreatic tumor that produces excessive vasoactive intestinal peptide, leading to severe watery diarrhea and imbalanced electrolytes. Unfortunately, by the time the tumor was found, it had metastasized to her liver.

Living with a Chronic Cancer Diagnosis

Once the tumor had spread to the liver, Williams’ prognosis shifted dramatically. “That’s the worst news in the cancer world,” she shared. She now lives with metastatic cancer and undergoes ongoing treatments like microwave ablation, which she described as “playing whack-a-mole every time they appear.”

She’s also received four rounds of Lutathera, a targeted radiotherapy treatment that involves injecting radioactive material into the body. “It’s supposed to buy me maybe a year, maybe two or three years, of freedom from treatment,” she said. “In the best-case scenario, it would have made the metastases disappear—but that didn’t happen.”

Why Pancreatic Cancer Often Goes Undetected?

Pancreatic cancer has long been dubbed a "silent killer" because its early symptoms are vague and non-specific. According to experts, only 20% of pancreatic cancer cases are caught at an operable stage. The average survival rate across all stages is just 5% after five years, a figure that has barely changed in decades.

Typical early signs—fatigue, unexplained weight loss, abdominal or back pain, jaundice—are frequently mistaken for more benign issues, delaying proper diagnosis. Williams’ experience mirrors this: symptoms were minimized or misinterpreted, even as the disease quietly advanced.

How Delayed Cancer Diagnosis Occurs?

A delayed cancer diagnosis isn’t just an individual tragedy—it’s a systemic healthcare failure. Research shows that patients with pancreatic cancer make an average of 11 visits to their general practitioner before getting a diagnosis. Williams’ case involved nearly double that number.

Misdiagnoses and overlooked symptoms often mean that by the time cancer is found, it is already in an advanced, incurable stage. The consequences are not just physical but emotional, too, as patients are left feeling ignored and invalidated.

Williams didn’t mince words: “If someone had f---ing well diagnosed me in the four years I’d been saying I was ill... then one operation possibly could have cleared the whole thing, and I could describe myself as cancer-free—which I cannot now ever be.”

Despite her ordeal, Williams isn’t sharing her story for pity. Instead, she hopes to drive awareness and urgency around early cancer detection. Her call to action is clear: we need affordable, accessible early testing—especially for cancers that are currently difficult to detect.

“What could change that is early detection with a test that could be as simple as breathing into a bag at your GP,” she explained. “We’re incredibly close—we just need to get it over the line.”

What is VIPoma?

VIPoma is an extremely rare type of neuroendocrine tumor that affects about one in 10 million people. It produces excessive levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), which can cause severe diarrhea, dehydration, and imbalances in potassium and sodium levels.

Due to its rarity, many healthcare professionals may never encounter a case in their careers, contributing to the high rate of misdiagnosis. Treatment typically involves surgery, medications to manage symptoms, and in advanced cases like Williams’, targeted therapies such as Lutathera.

Williams’ experience underscores a vital takeaway for the global medical community: trust and listen to patients. Dismissal of patient-reported symptoms, especially when persistent and unexplained, can lead to delayed diagnosis with life-altering consequences.

Not forever, but what if you could press pause on Alzheimer’s just long enough to enjoy a few more good years? That is the tantalising promise behind a new drug called lecanemab, hailed as a game-changer in the fight against dementia.

The drug has already been licensed for use in the UK after trials showed it could slow the pace of decline in people with early-stage Alzheimer’s. But new long-term findings are turning cautious hope into something stronger: patients who stayed on lecanemab for four years experienced a noticeable delay in the disease's progression. Some even showed no decline at all.

How It Works

In the initial 18-month trial, the drug delayed Alzheimer’s progression by just under six months. That might not sound like much, but it’s the long game that matters here. Among 478 patients who remained on the drug for four years, the average delay before their disease advanced to the next stage stretched to almost 11 months.

Even more striking: 69 per cent of those with low levels of tau saw no decline at all over the four years. And over half in that same group actually improved their cognitive scores.

A Slow Slide Instead of a Steep Drop

Typically, people with mild Alzheimer’s see their scores on memory and function tests worsen by one or two points each year. But for those taking lecanemab, the total decline across four years was just 1.75 points. That’s a major shift in the rhythm of the disease, changing it from a downhill tumble to a slow shuffle.

Professor Christopher Van Dyck, who led the study at Yale School of Medicine, puts it simply: “You will get worse over time, but it will take longer to get there.” That extra time could mean more independence, more connection with loved ones, and more living.

Why Early Treatment is Key

This makes a strong case for early diagnosis and intervention, which could shift the way we approach Alzheimer’s care. No longer is it just about managing symptoms; it’s about changing the trajectory of the disease.

Not a Cure, But a Clear Step Forward

Lecanemab isn’t a miracle cure. It doesn’t reverse Alzheimer’s, and it’s not suitable for all patients. But experts say it’s a major milestone. Reportedly, this is the first wave of disease-modifying treatments and there’s still plenty to understand.

Other Contenders in the Ring

Lecanemab isn’t the only drug showing promise. A similar treatment called donanemab was tested over a three-year period, though it was only administered for 18 months. Still, the results were encouraging: patients on the drug gained an extra six to 12 months before their disease progressed.

That might not sound earth-shattering, but in a condition where time is everything, even a few more months of clarity and connection can be priceless.

The research is still evolving, but the signs are encouraging. With continued trials, this could be the start of a new chapter in dementia treatment, one where patients and families have more time to prepare, more time to enjoy life, and more hope than ever before.

When 63-year-old John Starns slumped on a train station bench in Sevenoaks, drenched in sweat and struggling to stay upright, most passers-by assumed he was drunk. He looked wobbly, pale, and visibly disoriented. But what looked like an awkward case of public intoxication turned out to be something far more sinister: a brain tumour hiding behind symptoms commonly mistaken for vertigo.

From “It’s Just Vertigo” to “You Have a Brain Tumour”

Three months and one MRI scan later, John finally got the truth. He reportedly had a vestibular schwannoma, a rare, benign brain tumour sitting on the nerve that connects the brain to the inner ear. It was affecting his balance, hearing, and overall coordination, symptoms that, in hindsight, were never typical of garden-variety vertigo.

What is Vestibular Schwannoma?

That is why the symptoms can masquerade as something much less serious.

• Dizziness or vertigo
• Hearing loss in one ear
• Ringing or buzzing sounds (tinnitus)
• Poor sound localisation
• In more advanced cases, numbness on one side of the face

Because these tumours grow at a glacial pace, symptoms tend to hide for months or even years. According to Cancer Research UK, they account for around 8 per cent of all brain tumours, with risk increasing significantly after the age of 65. In rare cases, they are linked to a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis, which often causes tumours on both sides of the brain.

Why Dizziness Deserves a Second Look

For John, it was not just one woozy episode. It was a string of unsettling, spin-the-room moments that left him lying flat on his back, eyes squeezed shut, praying for the world to stop pirouetting. And while vertigo was the first suspect, his brain had other plans, like growing a tumour on his vestibulocochlear nerve.

That is the thing with dizziness: it is vague, common, and often misunderstood. It can signal anything from low blood pressure and ear infections to neurological conditions that need serious medical attention. But because it is so easy to dismiss and hard to describe without wildly gesturing, it often gets brushed under the rug until it insists on being noticed.

If you face dizziness, do not ignore it. Especially if the dizziness is intense, recurrent, or comes with sidekicks like hearing loss, balance issues, or ringing in your ears.

In a controversial move that has rattled the U.S. medical community, federal health officials have severed ties with more than half a dozen major medical organizations from participating in government vaccine advisory workgroups.

The decision, communicated via email on Thursday, disinvites top experts from these groups from contributing to the workgroups that support the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a key body that guides the nation’s vaccination policies.

Organizations affected include the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), and several others, many of whom have historically played a critical role in shaping vaccine guidelines.

“This is deeply concerning and distressing,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a renowned vaccine expert from Vanderbilt University who has been involved with ACIP workgroups for decades. “Removing these organizations will likely create conflicting messages about vaccine guidance. Patients might hear one thing from the government and another from their personal doctors.”

Longstanding Collaboration Ends Abruptly

For years, the ACIP has relied on a structured system where experts from various medical and scientific fields evaluate vaccine data and help draft recommendations. These recommendations, once approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), often inform clinical practice and determine insurance coverage.

But according to an email obtained by Bloomberg and confirmed by federal officials on Friday, the medical organizations are now being sidelined on the grounds that they are “special interest groups” and are assumed to carry a “bias” due to the populations they serve.

Dr. Schaffner defended the former system, highlighting how professional organizations offered practical insights on how recommendations could be realistically implemented in clinical settings. Importantly, all members were subject to conflict-of-interest vetting, ensuring objective guidance, he added.

Health Secretary Kennedy’s Sweeping Changes

This latest shake-up follows an earlier, unprecedented move in June when U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly dismissed the entire ACIP panel, accusing it of being too closely aligned with vaccine manufacturers. Kennedy, a former leader in the anti-vaccine movement, has since appointed several known vaccine skeptics to the new committee.

Among the organizations removed from the workgroup process are the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Geriatrics Society, American Osteopathic Association, National Medical Association, and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

In a joint statement released Friday, the AMA and several of the disinvited organizations denounced the decision, calling it “irresponsible” and “dangerous to our nation’s health.” The statement warned that excluding their medical expertise “will further undermine public and clinician trust in vaccines.”

The groups urged the administration to reverse the decision, emphasizing the importance of transparency and collaboration in public health decision-making.

Lawsuit and Fallout

Several of the ousted organizations had previously criticized Kennedy’s overhaul of the ACIP. Last month, three of them joined a lawsuit challenging the government’s decision to halt COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for most children and pregnant women, a policy shift that has been widely criticized by public health experts.

Meanwhile, newly appointed ACIP member Retsef Levi, a professor of business management with no formal medical background, defended the administration's direction on social media. Levi wrote that future workgroups would “engage experts from an even broader set of disciplines,” and claimed that membership would be based on “merit & expertise, not organizational affiliations with conflicts of interest.”

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has not yet disclosed which experts will replace the disinvited members or when the new workgroups will begin operating.