Proton beam therapy centers projected for Manchester and London by 2017

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDApr 5 2012

A bid to make a £250m project catering “cutting-edge” radiotherapy centers in Manchester and London by 2017 has been confirmed. The plan will see University College London Hospital (UCLH) and The Christie offer proton beam therapy, which uses a particle beam to destroy cancer cells.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the centers would be a “vital” addition to the UK's cancer facilities. Currently, NHS patients in the UK needing the therapy have to travel to Switzerland or America for treatment. Mr Lansley said that about 1,500 patients a year could benefit from the new facilities, which he said would be “unparalleled”. “Developing a national proton beam therapy service is vital to ensuring our cancer facilities are world class,” he said.

Dr Ed Smith, of the Christie, said the treatment was particularly effective because it targeted the cancer precisely. “With X-rays, when you are treating a patient, they can go through the tumor and affect the normal tissues…With proton beam therapy, you can stop the beam in the tumor itself, so you're sparing much more of the normal tissue,” he explained.

Experts said the therapy had been found to be particularly suitable for use against complex childhood cancers and adult brain, neck and head cancers. UCLH's chief executive Sir Robert Naylor said the new facilities would make a “significant difference to the lives of hundreds of patients every year, particularly children and teenagers”. “It provides an opportunity for the NHS to become a world leader in pediatric radiotherapy, and gain an international profile in many complex adult cancers,” he said. Children treated with Proton Beam Therapy, a type of radiotherapy which uses high-energy particle beams to destroy cancer cells, have better success rates while it also reduces side effects such as deafness, loss of IQ and secondary cancers.

The Department of Health announced in October 2010 that three hospitals were to be considered as host hospitals for the new centers. The government said University Hospitals Birmingham had now been identified as a third potential site - but only if demand increased. A spokesman for the Department said UK-based proton beam therapy facilities would reduce the cost of sending patients abroad, which was expected to cost £30m a year by 2014.

Dara de Burca, of the childhood cancer charity CLIC Sargent, said, “We welcome this decision. At the moment, families have to travel abroad for this treatment, causing disruption and separating them from loved ones at a time when their lives have already been turned upside down. When treatment becomes available at these hospitals in the UK, it will enable us to provide our full range of clinical, practical and emotional support to children, young people and their families.”