Victor Blackwood was given just three weeks to live.
But then a breakthrough drug gave the 62-year-old a new lease on life.
"I'm here to say that two years later, I still feel like I have a long way to go. These days, I'm almost completely back to normal."
Diagnosed with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukaemia - or C-L-L - in 2007, Mr Blackwood underwent six bouts of chemotherapy, with no success.
But within seven weeks of commencing the new trial, a remarkable difference
And two years later, the grandfather of nine has no detectable signs of CLL.
His wife, Maree Blackwood, couldn't be happier.
"We just had a rough time, with all the chemotherapy, and poor Vic, he was always sick. In [the] emergency [department], every 10 days after chemotherapy, losing weight, not eating, and now to this, is just absolutely amazing. I've got a new man again."
Fellow trial participant, 63-year-old Rod Jacobs, is in full remission, after experiencing a significant turn-around in his health.
"It's taken me from a death sentence to, I've now got a life sentence. I'm still here today, basically the bottom line is, I wouldn't be if it wasn't for this drug."
As part of the trial, the potent drug venetoclax, was administered four times a day to patients with advanced CLL, who'd exhausted other treatments.
By targeting a protein called BCL-2, which promotes cancer-cell survival, the breakthrough therapy prevents interaction between healthy and diseased cells, stopping the cancer from growing.
Professor Andrew Roberts is a clinical haematologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
When he checked the patients' blood counts, he couldn't believe the results.
"Within six to 24 hours, we were seeing the chronic lymphocytic leukaemia starting to melt away. But in fact the patient's knew it before the doctors."
Researcher Professor John Seymour is chair of the Haematology Service at Melbourne's Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
He says of the 116 patients involved in the trial, there's been a 79 per cent success rate, with 20 per cent in complete remission.
"On average, patients continuing with control of their leukaemia beyond two years. And the longest patient is now out, approaching four and a half years and remaining very well."
And Rod Jacobs says the side effects are minimal.
"My quality of life has improved out of sight. There are next to no side effects, compared to chemotherapy, it's night and day."
The drug is the result of a landmark discovery made in Melbourne in the 1980s.
And while the results of the phase one trial have now been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it could be months or even years before the drug is marketed and more widely available.
Phase two and three trials are underway globally, testing venetoclax's effectiveness on a range of blood cancers.
