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Star Wars pilot flies to Israel for pioneering cancer treatment

January 19, 2012 12:31
Lynne Hazelden as she appeared in Star Wars

By

Jessica Elgot,

Jessica Elgot

2 min read

A British actress, who played a fighter pilot in Star Wars, is undergoing pioneering cancer treatments in Israel this week, to treat aggressive breast cancer.

Lynne Hazelden, 52, from Brighton, who played Rebel Alliance pilot Karie Neth in Return of the Jedi, is being treated at the International Centre for Cell Therapy and Cancer Immunotherapy (CTCI) in Tel Aviv.

"I was 21 when I was in the film; I only found out recently I'm on a collector's card," she said.

Ms Hazelden, who has appeared in The Bill and Holby City, is now trying to raise £100,000 to pay for her cancer treatment in Israel. The technology is known as Dendritic Cell Vaccines, pioneered by Professor Shlomo Slavin, and is part of a long series of trials by doctors over the past decade to boost artificially the immune system to target cancer, via vaccinations.

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