New proton beam therapy machine to treat cancer patients

Cancer patients will undergo proton beam therapy with the use of a new machine at The Christie hospital in Manchester for the first time this month.

Proton beam therapy is a specialist form of radiotherapy that targets cancers very precisely with the aim of increasing success rates and reducing side-effects.

The Christie is the first NHS treatment centre in England to offer this treatment for patients, with University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust following in summer 2020. When complete they will each treat up to 750 patients every year.

Roger Spencer, chief executive of The Christie said: “To be just days away from offering high energy proton beam therapy to patients in the UK for the very first time is really exciting. Patients will benefit hugely from having the service available in Manchester bringing treatment closer for them and their families who currently have to travel abroad and resulting in less upheaval during what is undoubtedly an extremely stressful time in their lives.”

NHS England has also invested £130 million to upgrade radiotherapy equipment which has funded 80 new or upgraded linear accelerator (LINAC) radiotherapy machines.

Around 4 in 10 of all NHS cancer patients are treated with radiotherapy, which typically uses high-energy radiation from a LINAC. Radiotherapy is one of the three main cancer treatments, alongside cancer surgery and chemotherapy.

Over the last two years older LINAC equipment being used by hospitals across the country has been upgraded or replaced.

The Christie opened their NHS proton beam therapy centre earlier this year, and the first patient is already undergoing preparation for their treatment this month.

Cally Palmer, national cancer director for NHS England said: “There have been huge advances in precision cancer treatment which hundreds of thousands of patients across the UK are now benefiting from.

“The first NHS patient undergoing high energy proton beam therapy in England marks a major milestone for the NHS and, as the NHS develops a long-term plan for the future, it also marks the end of the first phase of the plans to radically transform cancer treatment across the country.”