Single treatment ‘cancer cure’ machine first

THE FIRST UK patient has received radiotherapy using a machine which could one day cure some cancers in a single treatment.

The Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London are only the third centre in the world to use the technology, which can track the shifting position of tumours in real time.

The MR Linac machine, described as a “dream come true” for radiologists, is unique in generating magnetic resonance images (MRI) while also delivering X-ray radiation beams.

Barry Dolling, 65, who was diagnosed with early prostate cancer in April, said he “jumped at the chance” to be the first in the country to try the technology.

He will receive four weeks of radiotherapy as part of a small clinical trial of patients with localised prostate cancer at the Royal Marsden – the culmination of six years of work.

Many cancer tumours shift position during radiotherapy or between scanning and treatment.

Breathing, bladder filling or bowel changes can all affect the location of cancer, raising the risk of radiotherapy being off-target.

However the MR Linac machine allows clinicians to constantly monitor the location of the tumour while delivering treatment.

Professor Uwe Oelfke, head of the joint department of physics at the ICR and Royal Marsden, who leads the project, said: “For us, it is a dream come true, because for the first time we can actually see what we are treating.”

The trial will initially examine prostate cancer, but it is hoped the machine will improve radiotherapy for a range of cancers.