Steve shares his knowledge, experience, and wisdom to help better equip and empower your capacity to mount a robust and effective response to a serious challenge.

steveHOLMES

2 brothers diagnosed with the same aggressive terminal cancer and 6 months to live. 

“Steve survived, but Graeme did not. Steve’s survival became a modern-day medical breakthrough that provided a new doorway to how patients can better respond and survive a serious cancer diagnosis.”

Surviving stage 4 metastatic and terminal cancer is remarkable in itself, it attracts attention, and therein lays a new unexpected responsibility.

Cancer patients suffer a lot, that’s what it is to be a patient, so anything that I can do to alleviate that suffering is a good thing, a positive thing, a meaningful thing. Sharing my story, knowledge, experiences, and wisdom in the best way possible does exactly that, it helps make other patient’s lives more liveable and shines a light on what is possible.

cancer READY

I find a lot of patient suffering comes from not understanding things and the confusion and overwhelm that comes from that. So helping people understand their diagnosis and options is a good start to improving their survival chances.

I have also learned the advantages of becoming cancer-ready, just as CPR awareness and basic knowledge can improve survival rates.

steveHOLMES

2 brothers diagnosed with the same aggressive terminal cancer and 6 months to live. 

“Steve survived, but Graeme did not. Steve’s survival became part of a modern-day medical breakthrough, providing a new pathway for how patients can better respond to and survive a serious cancer diagnosis.”

Surviving stage 4 metastatic and terminal cancer is remarkable in itself, it attracts attention, and therein lays a new unexpected responsibility.

Cancer patients suffer a lot, that’s what it is to be a patient, so anything that I can do to alleviate that suffering is a good thing, a positive thing, a meaningful thing. Sharing my story, knowledge, experiences, and wisdom in the best way possible does exactly that, it helps make other patient’s lives more liveable and shines a light on what is possible.

cancerREADY

I find a lot of patient suffering comes from not understanding things and the confusion and overwhelm that comes from that. So helping people understand their diagnosis and options is a good start to improving their survival chances.

I have also learned the advantages of becoming cancer-ready, just as CPR awareness and basic knowledge can improve survival rates.

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MY VIDEO STORY

Part 1 | Part 2

14,000 km’s

All Done and Dusted 14,000 km’s

I cycled the equivalent of Australia’s coastline—14,000 km—to raise funds for two vital causes: delivering Free Patient Navigator Journals and advancing research into early detection methods for bile duct and bile-related cancers such as liver, gallbladder and pancreatic.

The 13-month journey was grueling, with storms, torrential rain, oppressive humidity, and relentless afternoon winds testing my resolve. But this challenge, like my fight against cancer, demanded more than grit—it called for me to once again unleash that unbreakable inner will.

The secret? Once again – Persistence and Perseverance became my magic combination – easily said but in reality bloody hard to do consistently. I think discipline reinforces habit which builds discipline, after that its a matter of, don’t think about the challenge – just ride!

To everyone who supported this mission, thank you. Your generosity has created life-saving resources that actually reach the coalface of today’s patient battle.

Why Ride So Far

Why cycling, and why so far? Before cancer, cycling was my escape—it kept me fit and, I believed, healthy. Yet here I am, back in the ICU at Gold Coast University Hospital for the second time in six weeks. I had lost a significant amount of blood and had just survived emergency surgery for a major aneurysm in my liver’s main hepatic artery. I felt weak—far weaker than I ever imagined a person could be.

The nurse assigned to my bed greeted me gently: “Hello Stephen, it’s good to see you back with us.” She explained where I was and how close I had come to dying—mere minutes, if not seconds. “You’re lucky to still be here,” she said. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was awake or dreaming. Slowly, everything came into focus, and I began to remember the events leading up to the aneurysm. Yes, I was lucky.

Knowing my passion for cycling, the nurse positioned the TV over my bed. The Australian Women’s Road Race in South Australia flickered on the screen, and she left me to tend to her duties. I smiled—what timing, I knew one of the riders favoured to take out the title, and, almost instinctively, my sense of competitiveness stirred.

As I watched the cyclists power uphill, a thought struck me: I might never ride again. I related to how they dug deep, stretching the gap on those falling behind, and I could almost feel that familiar burn—the deep pain in a cyclist’s legs on any tough climb. I remember thinking, I would trade the pain of cancer for that deep-burning leg pain in a heartbeat. Strange as it may sound, to once again experience that pain would mean proof of life.

Cycling isn’t something typically achievable for someone who has lost multiple organs and faced a cancer that is rarely beaten—although scared, I wasn’t willing to let that stop me.

Having survived late-stage, stage 4 cancer, it took me nearly two years of effort and determination to reclaim enough confidence and fitness to cycle faster than a parked car going in the opposite direction.

There’s no manual for this kind of thing. But with significant help from an old cycling mate, Kev—who showed up most days to tow me along until I could once again ride a respectable distance on my own—the day finally came when I could set myself a new challenge. It had to be bigger than anything I had ever done before—something that would stretch my mind and inspire others like me to see what is possible.

As a patient, one of the most powerful sources of strength is seeing a patient like yourself rise above their challenge. It lifts your spirits, fuels your effort, and rekindles that innate belief in what is possible. It motivates you to take the next step—or pedal stroke, in my case. Ride Within, Ride With Rhythm, Ride for Tomorrow was the tune I tapped out in my mind as I carved out hundreds, then thousands, of kilometres.

These journals are a critical lifeline for those facing highly lethal bile-related cancers—such as liver, bile duct, gallbladder, and pancreatic cancers—all of which carry devastatingly poor survival outcomes.

For these patients, there are no options for early detection, no curative treatments, and no meaningful life-extending therapies outside of surgery—and even then, only a small subset qualify. With overall survival rates below 10%, and just 2% for those diagnosed with metastatic disease—which sadly represents the majority—these diagnoses often leave patients feeling like there’s no way forward.

Having lived through and survived this devastating reality myself, Claire and I knew we had to act quickly, as these diseases are surging alarmingly in younger people. Over the past decade, bile-related cancers have increased by an average of 60%, now affecting a growing number of individuals in their 30s and 40s—yet there has been no meaningful progress in improving survival outcomes for this train wreck of a cancer.

Together, we turned my personal success into action, developing the Patient Navigator Journals to provide a much-needed starting point—a bridge between having no options and discovering a possible pathway to survival.

These journals are designed to better equip and empower patients to understand and more effectively respond from the moment of their diagnosis

More importantly, cycling isn’t something typically achievable by someone who has had multiple organs removed and faced a cancer that is rarely beaten. Having survived late-stage, stage 4 cancer, it took me several years to reclaim the confidence and fitness to cycle faster than a parked car going in the opposite direction. But the day finally came when I could set such a challenge—and inspire others like me to see what is possible. There is no manual for this kind of stuff.

As a patient, one of the most powerful sources of strength is seeing someone like you rise above the pain of dying. It lifts your spirits, fuels your effort, and rekindles that innate belief in what is possible. It motivates you to take the next step—or pedal stroke, in my case. Ride Within, Ride With Rhythm, Ride to Tomorrow was the tune I tapped out in my mind as I carved out hundreds, then thousands, of kilometres.

These journals are a critical lifeline for those facing highly lethal bile-related cancers—such as liver, bile duct, gallbladder, and pancreatic cancers—all of which carry devastatingly poor survival outcomes.

For these patients, there are no options for early detection, no curative treatments, and no meaningful life-extending therapies outside of surgery—and even then, only a small subset qualify. With overall survival rates below 10% and just 2.5% for those diagnosed with metastatic disease—which sadly represents the majority—these diagnoses often leave patients feeling like there’s no way forward.

Having lived through and survived this devastating reality myself, Claire and I knew we had to act quickly, as these diseases are surging alarmingly in younger people. Over the past decade, bile-related cancers have increased by an average of 60%, now affecting a growing number of individuals in their 30s and 40s—yet there has been no meaningful progress in improving survival outcomes for this train wreck of a cancer.

Together, we turned my success into a clear pathway of steps and actions, developing the Patient Navigator Journals to provide a much-needed starting point—a bridge between having no options and discovering a possible pathway to survival.

We desperately need funding for more Patient Navigator Journals as we head into the Christmas season – please help if you can. These journals are designed to better equip and empower patients to understand, engage, and more effectively respond from the moment of their diagnosis.

“I cannot speak highly enough of the Patient Navigator Journal. I owe so much to the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Australia. The information and support I received were life-changing. When I experienced a recurrence, I knew exactly what steps to take because of the tools and knowledge Steve provided. Please support Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Australia’s patient initiatives—I certainly do!”
Lynette Williams, Patient Survivor

BE Bold Lean Into It,

Or It Will Lean Even Back Harder

Hope: A Tangible Path We Construct

Hope isn’t something we wait for—it’s something pure need unlocks. It doesn’t require luck, permission, or guarantees. It rises from inner will, forged in the face of impossible obstacles.

Inner will is not the conscious self—it is something deeper. A constant navigator. A silent architect. Always reading objective reality, always adapting. Like Google Maps running in the background, inner will is always mapping the way forward, recalibrating as new obstacles appear, drawing from history, memory, and experience.

It doesn’t stop when roads are blocked. It doesn’t hesitate. It finds another way.

Where others see nothing—or refuse to—inner will has already mapped the next move.

A terminal cancer diagnosis does something few will ever understand—it activates something deeper. When all known paths are gone, when conventional options fail, inner will steps forward. It strips away illusion, recalibrates reality, and constructs the way forward.

Hope is not a fragile wish. It is the outward projection of inner will—as real as pain, as necessary as breath. It bridges the impossible to the possible.

We don’t create hope; we awaken to it.

We just need to give it oxygen—give it life—so it can shape its reality.

Those untouched by absolute necessity won’t see this path. They will tell you it doesn’t exist. But they are not the ones building it—we are. Hope does not need their validation. It thrives despite them, guiding us forward one step at a time.

The lesson? Seeking guarantees from those untouched by our reality weakens us. It’s a distraction, a weight we cannot afford to carry.

Cancer does not wait—it is relentless. Neither can we.

Bold deliberation, relentless creativity, and unwavering perseverance—these are the tools of those who achieve the remarkable.

They forge what others in comfort cannot see—the path between the improbable and the impossible.

Become a Straightforward Thinker

If the path is blocked, go around. If the fruit is bitter, throw it out.

Simple. Not easy.

But this is how we are able to see possibilities we never saw before. This is how we stay in the fight.

Hope was, at times, the only strategy I had left.
And I knew—if I didn’t lean into it, it would lean back even harder.

“Nature, to be commanded, must first be obeyed.” – Francis Bacon

To control and defeat this cancer, I had to speed up how I understood it.

My Story

When I was 29, my dad, just 52, was coaching my brother Graeme and me at cricket practice. Graeme and I were in the practice nets for batting practice and Dad was retrieving the balls and returning them back to the bowlers when Dad collapsed—a heart attack. I didn’t know how to perform CPR. I stood there, helpless, as he died right in front of us. I have carried that guilt for years.

Years later, my younger brother called me with devastating news: he had cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive bile duct cancer. He was terrified—very terrified. Once again, I was overwhelmed by that same helplessness. I could do nothing, and he passed away. I was his older brother—someone he looked up to and I could not help.

Two years later, I was diagnosed with the exact same cancer as Graeme. Despite being in a worse condition, I somehow survived. My mum wanted me to walk away from it all and move on with my life. She had already lost her husband and one son; she couldn’t bear the thought of losing me too. I understood her plea, but I couldn’t walk away. My brother had children, and I had two of my own. It was in the collision of all these thoughts that I realised my survival had become more than a personal victory—it was an unexpected responsibility and an opportunity to become part of the solution.

I now had an incredible opportunity to ensure, as best I could, that I would never again be paralysed by helplessness. I could break this cycle—I could become better prepared and play an integral role in the cancer success equation.

Each of us has the same opportunity: to do our best. That is all anyone can do or be expected to do—our best, nothing more, nothing less. And that’s exactly what I needed to focus on.

I had survived, and in doing so, gained uniquely valuable insight into defeating a high-lethality cancer. Through the obstacle of this disease and my journey through it, new possibilities emerged—possibilities that only I, as a patient deeply immersed in the fight for survival, could truly see and understand. My success had not only become part of the solution but had also underscored a profound responsibility that came with it.

A responsibility to develop the skills needed to effectively share these hard-earned insights and to build upon them—to bridge the gaps and address the unmet needs that both Claire and I had observed in medical science and the delivery of best practices. These possibilities demanded attention—my attention!

Driven by pure necessity, I realised it would be up to me to ignite the momentum needed to galvanise those of talent and great character—the two essential, interdependent components required to embrace this effort and elevate it to its higher reality. I would have to persevere until momentum itself reached out and embraced my efforts—until the inherent value within this bold and audacious challenge rose above the noise and was embraced by science, healthcare, and ultimately today’s patients.

Yes, an audacious and bold challenge undertaken by a mere patient. But it was my responsibility to carry this philosophy and its possibilities from the battlefields of cancer that I had just come from—battles where resilience and survival are forged—to the classrooms of understanding, the laboratories of innovation, and the bedsides of patients. Separating these battlefield lessons from the emotions that carried them seemed logical at first, but I came to realise those emotions were an essential part of the lessons themselves. They gave meaning and power to the insights I had gained.

This was becoming a journey driven by pure necessity, shaped by hard-earned lived experiences and the laser-focused purpose they brought—purpose and perseverance that demanded I adapt and evolve at every step. It became a journey of critical thinking, never allowing assumptions to lead but instead steadily transforming chaos into its counterpart: clear, purposeful steps—a pathway that broke down the overwhelming challenge of cancer, where each step seamlessly followed the next until survival was within reach.

Now, as you read this, perhaps you understand why I do what I do. You don’t need to be a doctor or a scientist to make a difference, anyone of purpose and resilience can rise above what stands in the way. Just imagine if doctors, scientists, politicians, and others with talent and great character carried this same thinking into everything they do! Talent is common place – great character is not, together they are magic!

We each get one life—one chance. Most people don’t see that the real opportunity is life itself: to do and leave your best, nothing more. Life’s pathway is built from obstacles and the possibilities within each – our opportunity to shape the path that others benefit from.

That’s how we create change: by leading by example until others see the value in what we do. That’s how we give our best. That’s how we leave a legacy that adds value beyond ourselves and our time.

From healthy cyclist to terminal cancer patient with weeks if not days to live, then back to cycling 400kms per week, and pioneering a new patient-led era in cancer response.

One moment I was a fit and healthy cyclist, the next, I was battling an aggressive and terminal cancer with an unbeaten record. Like most people, I was naive if not blissfully ignorant to the fact that healthy people can also get cancer. Health and fitness as I was to learn are very subjective and widely open to interpretation.

Late October 2016: Symptoms

It was a regular Saturday morning coffee ride between Main Beach and Burleigh on the Gold Coast when I experienced a sudden onset of weakness, much like a bad flu coming on. I had to abandon the ride and head straight home to the couch. Little did I suspect that this would mark the beginning of a battle for my life.

November 2016: The Diagnosis

Diagnosis – Prognosis: I was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma and a prognosis of 6 months, the exact same diagnosis that had claimed my younger brother Graeme just two years earlier.

December 8th 2016

Whipple Surgery: The Whipple is a multi-organ surgery performed by a team of 7 surgeons over 14 hours. They removed a shopping list of vital organs:

  • Common Hepatic Duct
    (Lower Section)
  • Common Bile duct,
  • Gallbladder,
  • Stomach: 80%,
  • Head of  Pancreas,
  • Hepatopancreatic Duct
  • Ampulla of Vater
  • Sphincter of Oddi
  • Duodenum
    (First chamber of Small Colon).
January 5th, 2017

An emergency aneurysm in my main hepatic artery nearly claimed my life. With only minutes to spare, thanks to an amazing surgical save by Dr. Tom Snow—who only moments before was in his car about to leave the hospital—I survived. Without his intervention, I wouldn’t be here to tell this tale.

July 2017: Aggressive Recurrence

The cancer returned aggressively. Now with weeks if not days to live, my oncologist, Dr. Matthew Burge, threw me a highly speculative ‘Hail Mary Pass’ in the form of a phase 2 clinical trial that had no success record with cholangiocarcinoma or pancreatic cancer at that time.

Too weak to sign the contract unassisted, Claire held my arm up while Matt guided the pen in my hand so I could sign the trial contract. Immediately after I signed, Matt looked me straight in the eye and, with his best cycling voice, said, “Steve, you have one job —stay alive for the next 30 days.” That was how long I would have to wait to receive my first infusion.

The Hail Mary: This new concept in enlisting our immune system to eliminate cancer, developed by Professors James Allison and Tasuku Honjo, would later win them a Nobel Prize in 2018.

August 8, 2017: The Hail Mary Pass is Thrown

Day 1: I made it to my first infusion.

August 11, 2017: Catching the Hail Mary

Day 3 Post Infusion: Miraculously, just three days later, I caught Matt’s pass and scored a touchdown: all my pain disappeared, and I could sit up, breathe freely, and walk normally.

October 2017: A Historic Milestone

Nine weeks later, scans confirmed I was completely NED (No Evidence of Disease), the first-ever cholangiocarcinoma patient to dynamically reverse a stage 4 cancer from such a late-stage setting. It was a special moment in anyone’s life. You can read more about that below.

A New Path and an Unexpected Responsibility

This whole experience set me on a new course, combining my pre-cancer life experience with the expertise gained in overcoming an unbeatable diagnosis. I had risen above what I thought I was capable of achieving, both physically and mentally. Driven to survive, I had forged a new pathway between the unlikely and the impossible. It was said to me, “Steve, you have walked and lived the hypotheses of the greatest minds in cancer science today, something that few can claim.” This incredibly unique lived experience revealed an unexpected responsibility.

I had to boldly and creatively leverage my unique advantage and pioneer a new patient-led response to cancer. This response pathway—a mix of process and culture—ensured that today’s science would be more fully understood and utilized to benefit today’s patients battling to survive. I aimed to bring science and healthcare around the empowered patient, thereby forging new shared pathways in how we approach and respond to cancer. This strategy increased effective engagement and capabilities at all levels, materially boosting five-year survival rates and beyond.

Cycling: Survival and Transformation

As it transpired, my passion for cycling carved out a path through decisions and connections that ultimately saved my life. Cycling became not only my distraction but also my connecting interest with many who had a hand in keeping me alive. It continues to influence how I live life, think, and act on those thoughts. Cycling has become an amazing introspective filtering and transformational space.

Video: Part One of Two

Graeme and Steve Holmes

Two brothers same aggressive terminal cancer and 6 months to live.

Symptoms

While cycling I suffered a sudden loss of energy, much like the onset of a bad flu. The next day these following symptoms became obvious:

  • Increasing lethargy
  • Yellowing eyes
  • Itching and yellowing hands
  • Pale-clay-colored stools and dark urine
Cancer Diagnosis Details
Surgeries ( total:25 hours)

Whipple Multi-Organ Removal

Surgical Complications
Clinical Trials
Attica:

Attica trial is trialing an adjuvant therapy.

  • 6-month Chemo, weekly infusions (12 hr days) not well tolerated
  •  2 year follow up
  • At 5.5 months, I experienced a prolific metastatic breakout
  • Mets Description: Large multiple tumors under my right rib cage, across the top of my liver, and both lungs – (too many to count.) Breathing became labored with every breath, and sitting became increasingly difficult.
  • Now – late-stage, Stage 4 Prognosis: weeks to days without further intervention
Keynote 158 (Aug 2017): Monoclonal Immunotherapy
Hail-Mary PassPass of Last Resort

  1. 3 weekly infusions
  2. Response – Day 3
  3. Cytokine Release Syndrome– CRS Level > 3+: Day 4 to Day 12
  4. Complete & Full & Response – officiated at 9 Week Scan
  5. Reference: NED – Remission – Cure
Biomarkers

About Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Australia

The Foundation is a uniquely patient-led cancer research and advocacy organisation with deep knowledge of the cholangiocarcinoma challenge and other bile-related cancers, including liver, gallbladder, and pancreatic cancers.

Transforming cancer care through its pioneering Optimal Patient Response Initiative, the Foundation was founded by Stage 4 survivor Steve Holmes and is driven by its guiding belief:
“Empower the Patient – Increase Survival. Empower Their Community – Exponentially Increase Survival.”

With no cure, limited treatment options, and a 5-year survival rate of only 5%, we cannot rely on treatment alone. Patients must lead with responsibility. We must set the culture—rising above our pain, leading by example, and being proactive co-pilots, not passive passengers.

By doing so, we inspire the scientists and healthcare professionals who work tirelessly for our survival. Our response shapes the future of their efforts and how we respond to this disease.

Because when we simplify, we understand.
When we understand, we engage.
When we engage, we respond effectively.
And when we respond effectively, we improve survival outcomes.

Key Focus Areas:

  • Optimal Patient Response (OPR):
    Embedding patient response strategies, processes, and voice into and beyond the clinical setting to transform how patients, clinicians, and researchers respond to bile-related cancers. This includes initiatives such as the Patient Navigator Journal Series, Mutational Translator, Patient-Endorsed Medical Registry, and the Second Opinion Project—all designed to equip and empower patients with the understanding, engagement, and response strategies they need, along with the tools, insights, and expert connections to enhance both their quality of life and survival outcomes.NGS Integration, a fast-evolving opportunity for patient survival, also falls under OPR—placing Next-Generation Sequencing at the heart of patient response strategies by simplifying complex data to enhance understanding, engagement, treatment options, and clinical trial
  • Bile Health Research:
    Supports Investigating toxic bile conditions to enable early detection and proactive intervention for bile-related cancers.
  • Building Focused Professional Communities:
    Blending expertise from patients, researchers, and clinicians to create comprehensive response and early detection communities, while professionalising patient and caregiver contributions.

Globally recognised for its unique, innovative, patient-led strategies, Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Australia is redefining cancer response and setting new standards for survival outcomes.

The Challenge

Cholangiocarcinoma is at the centre of a worsening health crisis, with cases rising by 60% in the past decade and increasingly affecting younger Australians aged 30 to 50 years. This aggressive cancer offers no meaningful treatments beyond surgery, which is only an option for 15% of patients, with 85% experiencing recurrence.

The majority of cases become metastatic, with survival rates dropping to just 2.5%, and overall survival languishing at 3 to 7%. This urgent challenge demands our communities’ support and your help, especially from those most impacted, to drive meaningful change for today’s patients benefit.

Effective Community 

Guided by Steve Holmes’s extraordinary journey, the foundation’s mission extends beyond treatment to include early detection, curative interventions, and prevention, while fostering a supportive and constructive team – a community that works together effectively. The Australian patient community has become a significant asset and resource that provides a vital blend of lived and professional expertise—serving as an essential resource for Australia and a model for addressing many other cancer types.

Join Us

To learn more about our work or join our mission, visit cholangiocarcinomaaustralia.org or contact us at claire@cholangio.org / 0431 180 783.

Speaker – Media Bio

Steve Holmes

Optimal Patient Response | NGS Integration | Bile Composition Research | Early Detection | CEO, Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Australia | Late-Stage, Stage 4 Cholangiocarcinoma Survivor

Founder & CEO, Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Australia

Steve Holmes leads the innovative Australian “Optimal Patient Response” Initiative, pioneering the concept: “Empower the Patient – Increase Survival. Empower Their Community – Exponentially Increase Survival.”

A late-stage, Stage 4 survivor, Steve has endured extensive multi-organ surgeries, a near-fatal hepatic artery aneurysm & experimental clinical trials. His firsthand experience redefines how patients, clinicians & researchers respond to bile-related cancers.

His work challenges the status quo, transforming patient response strategies & processes to build a strategic response culture. He drives NGS integration, expands clinical trial access & leads root-cause research into bile toxicity as the primary trigger for cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), developing early detection methodologies to combat its rising incidence.

Guiding Principle

  • Simplification → Increases Understanding
  • Understanding → Increases Engagement
  • Engagement → Enhances Effective Response
  • Effective Response → Improves Survival Outcomes

Steve also develops professional communities, uniting patients, researchers & clinicians to drive collaboration & action.

This approach is vital given the alarming rise in younger patients, requiring support communities built on lived experience, talent, & great character—all deeply interconnected.

More: steveholmes.net.au | cholangiocarcinomaaustralia.org


Other:

Patient-Led Response

In 2018, Steve co-founded the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Australia with Claire—a uniquely patient-led cancer research & advocacy initiative ensuring today’s medical research, advancements, & educational innovations directly benefit today’s patients, today.

With no early detection, no meaningful life-extending treatment options, & no curative options beyond surgery—benefiting just 15% of patients, 85% of whom recur—survivorship is further diminished as incidence continues to rise. A new approach was urgently needed.

A rare survivor of late-stage IV cholangiocarcinoma, Steve endured lengthy, invasive surgeries & survived an emergency mercy dash due to uncontrolled blood loss from a main hepatic artery aneurysm—a remarkable surgical save with seconds to spare. Despite this, the cancer returned aggressively; with all traditional options exhausted, a speculative clinical trial emerged.

Steve attributes his survival to his calm & composed wife, Claire, alongside people with the rare combination of experience, talent, & great character, enabling him to survive long enough to participate in groundbreaking, newly emerging immunotherapy advancements made possible by Next-Generation Sequencing.


Research & Collaborations

» Advancing clinical trial & treatment options & access.
» Controversies of Biliary Tract Cancer Management.
» 2025 CCF (USA) Conference – Global research initiative by ICRN & ENS-CCA Precision-BTC-Network.
» Author: Understanding Bile Duct & Bile-Related Cancers.
» Author: Cancer Chronicles – Simplifying Complexities, Increases Understanding, Engagement, & Effective Response.

For Media Release

Steve Holmes: Championing Bile Health & Cancer Prevention

Steve Holmes is a global leader in bile health research and the driving force behind a revolutionary shift in how we detect, prevent, and respond to cancer. A survivor of late-stage, stage IV cholangiocarcinoma—one of the most aggressive and lethal cancers—he has transformed personal tragedy into a mission to redefine how we fight cancer.

Steve is pioneering the concept that “Bile Health Matters.” He asserts that healthy bile composition is central to metabolism and liver function, while toxic bile is a primary trigger for bile duct cancer and related malignancies, including those of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, ampulla of Vater, and duodenum.

Like cholesterol before it, bile health is an invisible crisis. Once overlooked, now impossible to ignore. A silent epidemic fueling a sharp rise in cancer cases—particularly among younger patients.

Through his groundbreaking Optimal Patient Response Initiative (OPR), Steve is redefining what it means to be a patient—transforming them from passive passengers to well-equipped, empowered co-pilots in their fight against cancer. He is professionalizing the role of patients and caregivers—expanding their capacity to understand, respond, align, and drive higher levels of collaboration with leading researchers and clinicians.

His work challenges the status quo by tackling what has long been ignored—integrating advanced diagnostic tools like Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) to not just identify a cancer’s genetic makeup but predict the bile environment likely to trigger its formation—before cancer even develops.

The result? A fundamental, transformational shift in how we detect, prevent, and respond to cancer.


Beyond Diagnosis: The Future of Bile Health & Cancer Prevention

Steve Holmes is driving real change in bile health research, early detection, and cancer prevention. He is leading the push for mandatory and optional bile sampling in clinical settings—starting with ERCP and surgical interventions—to ensure patients and at-risk populations, including family members of diagnosed patients, gain access to critical diagnostic insights before cancer develops or recurs.

+61 415 153 522
steve@teddermain.com

“Because a thing seems difficult, do not think it impossible.” – Marcus Aurelius
“There is always a way if we can remain open to such thinking.” – Steve H.

Why Cycling?

Because I Can – Cancer took it from me, but I have taken it back. Cycling like life requires the disciplines of ‘persistence’ and ‘perseverance’, it grounds my effort and keeps me connected to the opportunity—life.

ICU hospital beds sparked the initial motivation, cycling offered a parallel world to distract me from the thoughts of dying, and then later on it physically became my special place of introspection, vision, and a transformative workshop on wheels to expand on what I had learned.

The future of CANCER

Empower the patient – Increase Survival. Empower their support community – Exponentially Increase Survival.

The empowered patient stands uniquely positioned to understand, engage, and ultimately succeed. They hold the power to inspire, influence, and reshape both science and healthcare, driving increased survivorship and reducing financial burdens on both private and public levels.

Integrating the empowered patient injects a common-sense strategy—an often-overlooked yet decisive missing piece in how we bridge the gap between the success of early-detectable cancers and the brutal high morbidity rates of late-stage diagnoses.

When the conventional way is too conservative, provides no clear path forward, or has been exhausted, the empowered patient becomes the catalyst for change.

They refuse stagnation. They see beyond the conventional norms. They see opportunity whereas others see dead ends. The empowered patient does not wait for permission to survive—they construct the way forward.

This way of thinking does not fit neatly within the remit of science or best practice. It is not bound by guidelines, protocols, or consensus. It is the remit of survival.

Because survival is not an academic exercise. It is not theoretical. It is lived. It is urgent. And it belongs to those who take ownership of it.

This is not about defiance. It is about necessity. The empowered patient does not demand solutions; they create them. They bridge the gaps, recalibrate reality, and drive transformation from the inside out.

The future of cancer is not a waiting game. It is built by those who refuse to stand still.

Update: Significant Breakthrough

RealityCheck

HEALTHY PEOPLE GET CANCER TOO; We are all healthy until we are not.

None of us can predict when we might face a cancer diagnosis. Even healthy individuals, including doctors, nurses, and scientists, are not immune. That’s why being well-equipped with knowledge and resources becomes a crucial factor and advantage if we are ever unexpectedly diagnosed with a serious cancer.

Life, Science,and Certainty

There is nothing in life or the science of life that is not vulnerable to being knocked off its precarious pedestal of certainty. The only certainty in life is that there is no certainty, just obstacles and their possibilities. Therefore, the opportunity within life is to see the possibilities within the obstacles and then set about making them our reality.

It is our Choice

When you believe in cancer’s reputation more than you believe in your ability to respond and overcome it – which will triumph?

Changing the Angle of Attack

Shifting Perceptions: Changing the Angle of Attack

To succeed over cancer is to dismantle the diagnosis, to strip it of its reputational packaging, to see it as it really is, not as you fear it is. It is only then that you will be ready to effectively respond.
Follow the Process: The Process methodically breaks the cancer down into small, winnable pieces. It keeps you focused on conquering each step in front of you now – today, removing the disempowering distractions posed by the enormity of the challenge. One step seamlessly follows the next wearing down the cancer’s defences until they are no more – until cancer is no more.

I Have Cancer I Am Going to Die

A crucial distinction: “I Have Cancer” is an objective fact. In contrast, “I Am Going to Die” is very subjective, a borrowed opinion, not a fact. It does not factor in the capacity of a well ‘Equipped and Empowered Patient.’

When diagnosed, it’s critical to see a cancer diagnosis as it is, not as you fear it is; being diagnosed is just a position, not a fate. This clear view unleashes your courage to act on what’s controllable and accept what isn’t. That is when you’re truly ready to effectively respond.

You must quickly move to accept the things you cannot change, have the courage to change the things you can control and change, and possess the wisdom to know the difference. You cannot control that you have cancer, but you can control how you will respond.

Shakespeare said, ‘Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’ Our perception and the stories we tell ourselves determine whether it’s a good story, a bad story, or no story at all.

I recall Theodore Roosevelt’s words, “We must all wear out or rust out.” I choose to wear out. This mindset powered my response when given just weeks to live.

All this is simple, but not easy. It takes practice, persistence, perseverance, and a disciplined focus that comes from taking full responsibility. We as patients must think differently, we must have creative persistence and we must hold our poise and grace – our nerve.

To repeat how I began this page: We must Act with Deliberation, Boldness, and Persistent Creativity: We all have the ‘Inner Will‘ and ‘Freedom‘ to choose these innate attributes at any moment, it is up to us – it is an indisputable right that only we can relinquish. ~ All the best, Steve

My Challenge

Separating the lessons learned from the emotions that encapsulated them has been a significant challenge. Initially, I sought to detach them for clearer communication. Yet, I realized that these emotions are not just carriers, but integral components of the lessons themselves. My challenge now lies in sharing these intertwined experiences in a way that offers tangible benefits

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Warm Regards Steve

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