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UK's first proton beam cancer therapy machine installed in Manchester Manchester gets UK's first high-energy proton beam cancer therapy machine
(about 3 hours later)
A 90-tonne machine that will allow cancer patients to receive state-of-the-art proton beam therapy on the NHS for the first time is to be installed at a hospital in Manchester. A 90-tonne machine that will allow cancer patients to receive state-of-the-art high-energy proton beam therapy on the NHS for the first time is to be installed at a hospital in Manchester.
The cyclotron delivers a special type of radiotherapy that is currently only available overseas. The NHS has been paying for patients to travel abroad for the treatment since 2008. The cyclotron delivers a special type of radiotherapy currently only available overseas. The NHS has been paying for patients to travel abroad for the treatment since 2008.
A 90-metre (300ft) crane will be used to lower the machine into position at the Christie hospital on Thursday. It will sit in a bunker reinforced with 270 timber, steel and concrete posts.A 90-metre (300ft) crane will be used to lower the machine into position at the Christie hospital on Thursday. It will sit in a bunker reinforced with 270 timber, steel and concrete posts.
Proton beam therapy targets certain cancers very precisely, increasing success rates and reducing side-effects. It causes less damage to healthy tissue surrounding the tumour and is particularly appropriate for certain cancers in children, who are more at risk of lasting damage because their organs are still growing.Proton beam therapy targets certain cancers very precisely, increasing success rates and reducing side-effects. It causes less damage to healthy tissue surrounding the tumour and is particularly appropriate for certain cancers in children, who are more at risk of lasting damage because their organs are still growing.
The treatment came to national attention in 2014 when a police search was mounted after the parents of five-year-old Ashya King took him out of hospital against doctors’ wishes and travelled to the continent. The couple hoped to secure proton beam therapy to treat their son’s brain tumour, but doctors argued that the treatment would not increase the boy’s chances of recovery.The treatment came to national attention in 2014 when a police search was mounted after the parents of five-year-old Ashya King took him out of hospital against doctors’ wishes and travelled to the continent. The couple hoped to secure proton beam therapy to treat their son’s brain tumour, but doctors argued that the treatment would not increase the boy’s chances of recovery.
The proton beam centre in Manchester aims to admit its first patients in August 2018 and is expected to treat 750 patients a year. University College hospital in London will open a second proton beam centre in the summer of 2020. The government has invested £250m in establishing the two centres.The proton beam centre in Manchester aims to admit its first patients in August 2018 and is expected to treat 750 patients a year. University College hospital in London will open a second proton beam centre in the summer of 2020. The government has invested £250m in establishing the two centres.
The cyclotron, which was built in Germany and is only the 14th machine of its kind, works by accelerating a proton stream of ionized hydrogen gas to two-thirds the speed of light, or more than 100,000 miles per second. The Manchester machine has been nicknamed Emmeline, after Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the suffragette movement, who was born nearby. The cyclotron, which was built in Germany and is only the 14th machine of its kind, works by accelerating a proton stream of ionised hydrogen gas to two-thirds the speed of light, or more than 100,000 miles per second. The Manchester machine has been nicknamed Emmeline, after Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the suffragette movement, who was born nearby.
The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said the Christie centre was a beacon of hope for people with cancer and their families. “This new facility is another crucial step forward in beating this disease, and to have it here in Greater Manchester, the first of its kind in the UK, is just fantastic,” he said. In 1989, Clatterbridge cancer centre became the first hospital-based proton treatment centre in the world, when it unveiled its low-energy proton beam machine, which is used for eye treatment. The Christie hospital will become the first in the UK to use a high-energy proton beam, which is used for a wider variety of cancers.
“At the moment people have to travel abroad to receive this type of therapy, but soon it will be available closer to home. This will make a huge difference to people receiving treatment, and their loved ones.” The mayor of Greater Manchester said the Christie centre was a beacon of hope for people with cancer and their families. “This new facility is another crucial step forward in beating this disease, and to have it here in Greater Manchester, the first of its kind in the UK, is just fantastic,” Andy Burnham said.
“At the moment, people have to travel abroad to receive this type of therapy, but soon it will be available closer to home. This will make a huge difference to people receiving treatment, and their loved ones.”