Esther Rantzen, 84, cancer battle takes devastating turn as daughter provides heartbreaking health update
Dame Esther Rantzen’s cancer medication is no longer working, her daughter has revealed in a heartbreaking health update.
Rebecca Wilcox shared the devastating news during an interview on 5 News yesterday when asked if her mother’s treatment was improving her condition.
“I really wish that was true, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore,” she told host Julian Druker.
The 84-year-old broadcaster and Childline founder was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2023.
Rantzen had previously praised an “amazing” new drug that had been delaying the spread of her cancer and holding the disease “at bay”.
Rantzen initially found a lump under her armpit after feeling tired during the Christmas period in December 2022.
Just weeks later, a biopsy confirmed she had stage four cancer. At one point, she was told she had just weeks to live, causing her to worry she wouldn’t see Christmas that year.
Last year, Rantzen told The Sunday Times about the medication that had extended her life, saying: “It doesn’t cure it, it delays it — and at some point, it will stop working.”
In September, she appeared on ITV’s Lorraine, saying she was doing “much better” than expected thanks to “one of these amazing new drugs”.
Wilcox revealed that Dignitas is no longer an option for her mother due to her declining health. “Frankly, Dignitas is out of the window for us as well,” she told 5 News.
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Rebecca Wilcox opens up about the health of her mother, Dame Esther Rantzen – who’s been battling terminal lung cancer.
When asked by 5 News about a new medication that was supposed to be improving her condition, Rebecca said, “I really wish that was true” but “I don’t think… pic.twitter.com/IsTBpVTU86
— Channel 5 News (@5_News) March 27, 2025
“You have to be relatively healthy to do that, if she had gone, she would have gone months before she would have died here.”
Wilcox has previously spoken about the heart-wrenching possibility of facing prosecution for accompanying her mother to the assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
In an interview with Hello!, she said: “We’re just hoping that flight to Dignitas doesn’t have to happen any time soon. I can’t say whether I’d go with her because I’d face prosecution.”
Since her diagnosis, Rantzen has been a vocal advocate for making assisted dying legal in the UK. She had previously considered travelling to Dignitas in Switzerland for an assisted death.
However, she expressed concerns about the legal implications for her family, saying: “The current law means my family could be prosecuted if I go.”
Rantzen has argued: “This is not right and as it is my life, I, like the majority of the public, believe it should be my choice.”
The proposal to allow a terminally ill person with less than six months to live assistance to end their life passed by 330 votes to 275 in Parliament.
Rantzen said she would be “watching the debate closely”.
Wilcox made an emotional plea for assisted dying legislation during her 5 News interview.
“I just wish that people understood that all the assisted dying bill is, is choice for people that want it,” she said.
“All it is, is giving you peace of mind and that peace of mind, I cannot tell you how powerful that would be right now for my mum.”
She continued: “I’m a witness to the trauma of uncertainty, to the trauma of stress around what is going to happen.”
“The fact that she doesn’t know how her death is going to happen, how the pain is going to progress, the exhaustion, the fatigue, what symptoms are going to come in.”
“She is a person who has fought her whole life for other people, and she has no control now.”
Rantzen previously told the BBC that a change in the law “would mean that I could look forward in confidence to a death which is pain-free surrounded by people I love”.
In February, she shared her ideal final moments with LBC Radio, saying she’d like to “fly off to Zurich with my nearest and dearest” and have “a fantastic dinner the night before”.
Despite her own situation, Rantzen has expressed hope for others facing similar circumstances.
“Even if it doesn’t happen in my time, I do hope that other people in my situation will be given the choice,” she told ITV’s Lorraine.
“That’s all I ask, to shorten their death, if that’s what they want.”