Terminally-ill NZ father accepted into trial for US life-saving cancer treatment

A terminally-ill New Zealand father has been accepted into a potentially life-saving cancer treatment trial after travelling to the United States.

On Sunday Kurt Brunton departed from Auckland Airport saying "goodbye for now" to his wife Janelle Brunton-Rennie and 1-year-old daughter Sage.

This morning he announced in a video update he had been officially accepted on to the CAR-T trial.

"Everything went as well as we could have hoped," Brunton said.

"I am pretty excited about what is coming up."

Brunton, a 41-year-old Remuera software accountant, has been battling an aggressive form of blood cancer since January. About a month ago his condition escalated dramatically, spreading to five tumours around his body.

Brunton had been officially accepted onto the CAR-T trial this morning and would commence treatment on September 19.

The process would involve harvesting Brunton's T-cells, which would spend three to four weeks being genetically engineered before being reintroduced.

Before he left New Zealand his doctor had begun prepping him for palliative care as there was no further treatment available for him in New Zealand.

Now, thanks to the ground-breaking immunotherapy treatment in Boston, the family had been given one last hope.

Thousands of New Zealanders have been getting behind Brunton's fight with more than $194,000 raised on his Givealittle page in the past two weeks.

With the steep overseas treatment cost, more than $1.5 million is needed.

The Herald will be posting regular video updates from Brunton as he embarks on the biggest fight of his life.