Patients can now receive pinpoint treatment for some complex tumours closer to home after East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) became one of only six centres in the UK to begin using the latest microwave ablation technology.
The state-of-the-art equipment allows clinicians to use an image taken during a CT scan to place a needle into the centre of a liver or kidney tumour and destroy the cancer cells using heat from microwave energy.
As well as being accurate to within 0.2mm, the system also allows clinicians to make sure the whole tumour has been destroyed while their patient is still under general anaesthetic.
The technology, which is made by Cascination, was used for the first time at Ipswich Hospital in early January and is also available to patients from Colchester. Its introduction means that ESNEFT is now able to treat patients whose tumour is in a difficult position and would previously have travelled to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
Consultant radiologist Simon Smith (pictured above with consultant radiologist Paul Jennings on the right) has so far carried out three liver procedures and one on a kidney tumour.
He said: “We are delighted with this new equipment, which is allowing us to perform much more accurate ablations than were previously possible. This is great news for our patients, as it means that some who previously had to travel elsewhere can now receive treatment closer to home.
“The Cascination system also allows us to be much more definitive when predicting how well we have ablated the tumour, which means that patients are much less likely to need additional treatment. As the system is so accurate, there are also far fewer complications, with the majority of patients able to return home the same day.
“The successful introduction of this technology has been a real team effort, and our thanks go to everyone who has supported the project, including consultant anaesthetists Dr Kate Turner and Dr Paul Mallett, as well as our anaesthesia and radiology teams. We are also incredibly grateful to both the Network Initiative Fund and the Jean Ratcliff Cancer Thermal Ablation Fund, which is administered by Dr Alice Gillams, whose generous donations have made this important service development possible.”
Although ablations have been available at Ipswich Hospital for several years, the technology used previously was less accurate and involved scanning the patient multiple times, in turn exposing them to more radiation. It was also more difficult for clinicians to assess how successful the treatment had been in real time, which meant that around 20% of patients would need to return for a second ablation.
As the new technology is much more accurate, it is expected that fewer than 9% of patients will need additional treatment.
In addition to liver and kidney tumours, ESNEFT hopes to use the technology to treat lung cancer over the coming months.
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