First for high-tech cancer treatment
A MAN has become the first bowel cancer patient in the UK to receive radiotherapy during surgery using a revolutionary mobile device.
The 58-year-old patient, from Southampton, Hampshire, completed a combination of conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy in August.
He underwent major surgery at Southampton General Hospital on Thursday, when a full dose of radiotherapy was delivered in theatre.
It was made possible through the use of Mobetron, which is the first portable system able to administer intraoperative electron beam radiotherapy (IOERT), an intensive form of targeted radiation given at the time of surgery to treat a wide variety of advanced cancers that are difficult to remove and treat.
Using cutting-edge technology, the radiation is given by high-energy electron beams delivered with precision to very specific locations inside the body immediately after a cancer has been removed.
This enables surgeons and oncology specialists to deliver much higher doses to areas at a high risk of recurrence without causing damage to surrounding healthy tissue and organs seen with conventional external beam radiotherapy.
Surgeon Neil Pearce said: “This is a significant moment for the treatment of advanced cancer in the UK – this technology is at the forefront of modern radiation oncology.
“IOERT using the Mobetron is a safe and effective standard of care in the treatment of complex cancers in a large number of internationally-renowned cancer centres and Southampton can now count itself among that group.”
Using the conventional form, which involves setting up a machine manually to target the area of a tumour rather than the cancer alone, doctors have to limit doses to protect surrounding structures.
Mobetron is used specifically for IOERT and can be wheeled between theatres with the potential to be used to treat several patients in different theatres every day.
The system was tested at the National Physical Laboratory in London before being transported to Southampton in June last year and will be used initially to treat pancreatic, neuroendocrine, colorectal and bladder tumours.