Dame Tessa’s final request to be honoured in tumour guidance
ONE OF the final requests of the late Dame Tessa Jowell is to be honoured in new official guidance on brain tumour care.
Dame Tessa highlighted how a “gold-standard” surgical aid was used in only half of the UK’s brain surgery centres.
She said the dye helps provide more accuracy in the identification of cancerous tissue.
In one of her final speeches in the House of Lords, Dame Tessa said: “The gold standard is to use a dye to enable the surgeon to identify the tumour precisely, but it is available in only about half the brain surgery centres in the UK, and it must of course be extended to all of them.”
Dame Tessa died in May aged 70 from a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumour. Now new official guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) states that the chemical dye, also known as the pink drink, should be used in initial brain cancer surgery for some brain cancer patients.
In final guidance, Nice said that more patients should take 5-amino levulinic acid (5-ALA) prior to surgery which results in tumour cells glowing pink under ultra violet light.
It said that a neurosurgeon using a non-standard fluorescence-detecting microscope is better able to identify which areas of the brain are cancerous and which are healthy.
Nice has estimated that about 1,500 people could benefit from the treatment each year.
It said that each of England’s 27 neurosurgical units is expected to have an average of about 55 patients requiring 5-ALA per year, which is likely to cost the NHS between £1m and £5m a year.
The new guidelines also make recommendations about the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of brain cancer as well as information and support that should be offered.
Cameron Miller, head of policy and public affairs at The Brain Tumour Charity, said: “We were immensely proud to work alongside Tessa Jowell to campaign for the universal roll-out of 5-ALA and we are delighted that Nice will now support its use for patients across England. More than anything, Tessa Jowell was determined to improve treatments and outcomes for everyone diagnosed with a brain tumour. This new guidance represents real progress towards that goal.”