Duran Duran's Andy Taylor is to undergo nuclear therapy for cancer

Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor, 62, reveals he’s undergoing a groundbreaking new treatment that could get him back to ‘full fitness for five years’ after incurable cancer diagnosis

Andy Taylor has revealed he’s hoping to undergo ‘nuclear therapy’ after being diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer. 

The Duran Duran star, 62, who revealed he had been diagnosed with incurable stage four metastatic prostate cancer, said that he has gone from not expecting to have long to live to now expecting to get back to full fitness.

Taylor was offered the life-saving treatment after the other members of the band revealed his frightening diagnosis in a letter read out at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction in November.

Taylor told the Rockonteurs podcast: ‘I’m starting my nuclear therapy. I’ve been having tests and scans and all kinds of far out science stuff.

‘I have got a wonky gene as well, which was another surprise, but what it is, it’s a nuclear medicine, so the stage I’m at, which was stage four like s*** basically, this therapy came into the UK only recently. It’s very, very new.’ 

Update: Andy Taylor, 62, has revealed he’s hoping to undergo ‘nuclear therapy’ after being diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer

Health update: The Duran Duran star said that he has gone from not expecting to have long to live to now expecting to get back to full fitness (pictured in 2017)

He explained the ‘new’ medicine can help him get back to ‘full fitness’ for at least ‘five years’. 

He continued: ‘And essentially it’s a nuclear medicine. It’s put into your body and it detects the cancer on the outside of the cells and it only hits cancer cells in your bones, which is mainly where it is with me, and zaps them. But if there’s a healthy cell next to it, it doesn’t touch it.

‘So it’s not curative, but it can knock out and then it’s got to start again and from what was kind of – I’ll not even say the term they used to have on the thing – but I can get back full fitness. I’ll be fine for five years.

‘The band have been great. We’ve got a lot of stuff that we’ve been working on under the radar. The solo album, I thought it was my last album, so that’s kind of where it changed.’

The guitarist said offers of help flooded in after his diagnosis including a letter read aloud by band singer Simon Le Bon at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

He added: ‘After that I got a lot of very, very amazing people got in touch with me from all over the world. T

‘Here’s a chap here called Sir Chris Evans, who took a look at everything for me, and said “No, there’s a lot more we can do for me”. He did my genomics. He’s a genius. He’s a biochemist. Kind of like an Elon Musk of cancer.

‘And he took a look at it really, really deeply, and looked at the genomics and said “there’s several ways we can help you”.

So sad: Taylor revealed he had been diagnosed with incurable stage four metastatic prostate cancer in November last year (pictured in 2003)

Taylor said: ‘I’m starting my nuclear therapy. I’ve been having tests and scans and all kinds of far out science stuff. It’s a nuclear medicine, so the stage I’m at, which was stage four like s*** basically, this therapy came into the UK only recently. It’s very, very new.’ (pictured (L-R) Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor, John Taylor, and Simon Le Bon)

‘And the treatment that I’m getting is probably the best. Because I didn’t go (to the induction), I got my life back. 

‘I never had chemotherapy, you know what happens with chemo if you’re a guitar player, your fingers can go. I’ve always been able to use quite sophisticated drugs and stuff but you get to a point where it’s either this treatment or there’s not really anything else that will flush it out.

‘And first thing, whenever I go and see an oncologist or urologist it’s like “Right, we’ve got to protect your fingers”, and I’m like “Great, that’s a good place to start” because it can actually destroy them.’ 

Taylor also said a visit from Le Bon at his home in Ibiza inspired him to get back working on the band’s music again and teased that new tracks could be coming soon. 

He added: ‘Simon and Yasmin came over to Ibiza and brought my award. They just came over with a great big magnum of fantastic vintage Dom Perignon.

‘I was just shooting the s*** with them and he was in my studio room in the house and we were just sitting there listening to music and stuff.

‘I fired up the studio and he said “Can I come over and work?” I said “Any time mate”. So about five or six days later he called me and said “We’re going to do this album that’s kind of Halloween based but looking back on material that was quite influential on everybody and re-work some Duran tracks that are kind of dark like Night Boat”.

‘He came over again with Josh, engineer, and I whacked down about nine tracks in a couple of days. 

‘And the reworked version of the Duran stuff sounds really, really good. I was absolutely blown away with the way they’d augmented the chords. There’s a couple of new tracks. There’s one new track I played on, fantastic.

‘This third wave of success that the band’s having – I’m really proud to be a part of it. It’s quite nice being a part-time member.’

New music: Taylor also said he was inspired to start working on the band’s music again following a visit from Le Bon and teased that fans won’t have to wait long 

The new Duran Duran album is expected to come out at the end of this year.

Andy had left Duran Duran back in 2006 before the album Red Carpet Massacre, but was working on a new solo album when covid hit and before he found out about his cancer. 

The solo album, called ‘Man’s a Wolf to Man’ is now due to come out on September 8 this year.

He had first noticed symptoms four and a half years ago when he felt ‘a kind of arthritic sort of pain’ and then noticed what felt like tumours on his neck.

Taylor said of the letter read out at the induction: ‘That just took me about 15 minutes to write. I just thought “ok, heart to paper”. You can’t miss anything out and acknowledging what they’ve done, which is kept the thing going, I’m the cat that got the cream, Simon read it.

‘I was sitting at home. I was just with my grandson, my daughter, and this new cat, who ended up becoming my little comfort. It was quite surreal.’