This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/23/ashya-king-now-free-of-cancer-after-proton-therapy-say-parents

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Ashya King free of cancer after proton therapy, say parents Ashya King’s parents say he is cancer-free after proton therapy
(about 5 hours later)
Ashya King – the five-year-old boy who sparked an international search when he was removed from hospital against doctors’ wishes – has been declared cancer-free, his parents have said. The parents of five-year-old Ashya King, who were briefly jailed after taking him from a British hospital and fleeing abroad to seek treatment, have said he is now cancer-free.
Ashya’s life was saved because he was given treatment not available for him on the NHS from their home in Southampton, his family told the Sun, hailing his “miracle” recovery. Brett and Naghmeh King, who prompted an international police hunt in August when they took Ashya from a Southampton hospital against doctors’ wishes, said their son has made a “miracle” recovery from brain cancer.
Ashya’s mother, Naghmeh, and father, Brett, described the treatment for brain cancer he received in Prague as incredible. “If we had left Ashya with the NHS in Britain, he would not be with us today. He was too weak and would not have survived,” she told the paper. The couple, from Southsea, Hants, were found in Spain, where they have a holiday home, and detained for three nights before a high court judge in London granted permission for them to seek proton beam therapy at a centre in Prague in the Czech Republic.
Ashya was finally allowed to undergo treatment at the Proton Therapy Centre (PTC) in Prague after a long legal battle fought by his parents. They had feared that conventional radiotherapy, advocated by Ashya’s British doctors to treat his medulloblastoma following surgery, would “kill him or turn him into a vegetable”.
Ashya’s father Brett said his son’s recovery justifies their actions in taking him from Southampton General hospital last August, to Spain where they have a holiday home. He said: “We have saved his life”, adding that they would do the same thing again if they felt they had to. On Monday they said they were absolutely delighted that a recent scan showed no sign of the tumour.
The Kings were arrested in Spain and spent several nights in prison away from their son, before being released. A high court judge approved the move to take Ashya to Prague for proton therapy, which the PTC said is more effective than the radiotherapy Ashya was being offered on the NHS. “We have saved his life,” Brett King, 51, told the Sun newspaper, adding: “It justifies everything we went through. If we had left Ashya with the NHS we don’t think he would have survived.”
It limits the radiation damage to other vital organs, such as the heart and liver in Ashya’s case. This would lead to less severe long-term side-effects including heart and breathing problems. The therapy was not available for him on the NHS, although the health service later agreed to fund Ashya’s treatment. Naghmeh King, 46, said: “We could not sleep before we got this news – now we are so full of hope for the future. We are jumping up and down with joy. It is a miracle we thought we would never see.”
The family, who have previously spoken of their apprehension over returning to the UK for fear that social services would intervene, are staying in Marbella where Ashya will continue his recovery. Ashya has been recovering with his family at their home in Marbella. Before being taken abroad he had undergone surgery to remove the tumour, and was left weak and unable to move.
The Sun quoted a report from the PTC that stated that the oncology department “could speculate that proton therapy received could be sufficient to sterilise sites of possible future relapses of the tumour”. With doubts about the radiotherapy treatment offered at Southampton General hospital, his parents wanted proton beam therapy, which was not initially offered on the NHS although the health service later agreed to fund it. The treatment targets radiation directly at the tumour, avoiding healthy surrounding tissue, and is said to have a lower risk of side effects.
Staff at the Proton Therapy Centre in Prague, where Ashya had been treated, said they were thrilled to hear the news. Jana Kulhankova, marketing director at the centre, said: “Ashya’s doctor told me last week that Ashya is doing so well that he is able to release him for rehabilitation. If the scans are showing that Ashya is cancer-free, as Mr King says, then we are thrilled. That is what we have worked for.”
At the high court hearing last year doctors in Southampton had said proton beam therapy was unlikely to provide any benefit over standard radiotherapy but that they would not object to Ashya travelling to Prague for such treatment provided a treatment plan was agreed with the parents.
Southampton University Hospital Trust said at the time that the chances of surviving the condition that Ashya has are about 70%-80% after five years with appropriate treatment.
The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has announced a £250m investment in two new proton beam therapy centres expected to open in London and Manchester in 2018.
The NHS currently pays for those deemed appropriate for the therapy to go the United States for treatment. They must be assessed by a panel who may decide patients are not suitable if there is unlikely to be a clinical benefit from the treatment. More than 400 patents have been sent abroad since 2008, mostly children.