New machine to 'zap' cancer

Being diagnosed with breast cancer can be "terrifying"

A new machine which can "zap" cancerous growths is being unveiled at an Oxford hospital.

Clinical trials are beginning into the new ultrasound treatment which may dramatically reduce the need for surgery for breast cancer.

The technique involves targeting a high-intensity beam at the growth to kill it off without damaging surrounding tissue.

The High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) unit - the first in the western world - is being opened at Churchill Hospital on Wednesday.

Dead tissue

Doctors believe the new therapy could spare patients some of the terrible drawbacks of conventional therapy, said the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust.

At the moment doctors use radiotherapy, which can have damaging and debilitating side-effects, to kill off tumours, and surgery to cut them out.

I see this as a very large step forward

James Kennedy, registrar

Doctors conducting the trials say breast cancer patients' lumps could instead be "zapped" with ultrasound, sparing them the horror of having a breast removed.

The dead tissue would then shrivel away and be naturally absorbed back into the chest over a period of between six months and two years.

James Kennedy, research registrar in urology, is helping lead the two-year study.

It will focus on patients with kidney or liver cancer, although more research on other cancers, is expected.

Chinese import

Mr Kennedy said: "I see this as a very large step forward.

"When women are diagnosed with breast cancer and are told that they need surgery, it's terrifying.

"Hopefully, this will offer an alternative to that emotional worry and take away the concerns about the assault on their body image."

Up until now, trials using the HIFU machine have only been carried out in China, where doctors pioneered the treatment in 1997 and have now treated about 1,400 patients.

It has been considered a success, but British researchers have to conduct trials which meet European standards.

Professor Sir Peter Morris, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, is formally opening the unit and unveiling the £2m machine - imported from China - at 1800 BST.