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New Treatment for Liver Cancer 'Burns Tumors Off'
N&N makes cancer breakthrough
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SARAH HALL
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk
13 September 2007 09:30
Thousands of cancer patients from across the world are set to benefit from pioneering new treatment being developed at the county's flagship hospital.
Consultants at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital have developed an innovative treatment which "cooks" tumours on the liver to ensure all cancerous tissues are destroyed and minimise the chances of the disease reoccurring.
The treatment has been piloted in laboratories and is set to be practiced on patients by this time next year - and the benefits will be experienced across the globe.
In particular many patients with cirrhosis or the fatal blood disease hepatitis C, both common causes of liver tumours, could see a massive improvement in the way the diseases are treated.
With a Hepatitis C "epidemic" on the horizon the development could have not have come at a better time according to the two people responsible for the treatment, Dr John Cockburn and Mr Simon Wemyss-Holden.
Mr Wemyss-Holden, a consultant in hepatobiliary and laparascopic liver surgery and also the hospital's cancer lead clinician, explained: "A number of "ablative" techniques have been used for years to treat tumours on the liver," he said.
"It means the cancers are burnt off but none of them are perfect and on many occasions some tissue cells are left behind or the tumour can grow back after being burnt away.
"Our technique means about three times the amount of tumour or surrounding tissue is destroyed which increases the chances of a patient recovering.
"We do not know exactly how many patients will benefit but there is a rise in liver cirrhosis locally because of alcoholism and a rise in cirrhosis globally because of hep C, in fact we are nearing an epidemic.
"So potentially thousands of patients locally, nationally and internationally will see the significance of this treatment."
The practice uses the development of a current practice called radio frequency ablation with a new electric tissue ablation which keeps the needle or probe used for treatment hydrated with water which means more tissue is destroyed and the chances of the tumour coming back is reduced.
The two medical professionals have been researching the new technique for about two years and have been working with their counterparts at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, Australia to practice the methods on laboratory livers.
As well as treating patients with primary liver tumours, or hepatomas, the ablative treatment will also prove essential is dealing with secondary tumours which form on the liver following colon or bowel cancer.
In Norfolk there has been an increase in the number of people with hepatitis C with almost 2,000 people living with the disease in Norwich alone. Across the world tens of thousands of people are living with the disease and many are not even aware of it.
Dr Cockburn, lead consultant in angio-interventional radiology at the N&N, said: "We know this technique works and we know it kills far more of the tumour and surrounding tissues than other techniques.
"We are just fine-tuning the whole process now to enable us to start practicing it on patients and it is important to remember it is only applicable to certain types of tumours.
"Without this keyhole surgery some of the tumours would be inoperable and that is extremely significant.
"This sort of development is very important because it shows what we can do as a teaching hospital. While treating local patients we have also had the opportunity to develop a treatment which can benefit people from all over the world."
The duo have already presented the treatment in Australia, Italy and parts of the UK and said it has been very well received.
In 2005 they won the education award for the Royal College of Radiologists for their invention and early this year were rewarded with an ongoing bursary from Health Enterprise East.
The initial funds for 13,000 were used for a machine that will create the new "burning" techniques and there will be more funding as the initiative is developed and expanded.
Ablative therapy has been permitted by the government watchdog Nice (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) so there are no concerns this development will be prevented from being used on the NHS.
This development joins a list of pioneering techniques deriving from the county's boffins in the past year.
Scientists from the Institute of Food Research (IFR) have made a vital breakthrough in the battle against potentially life-threatening food allergies.
A team identified a molecule that could protect against allergies to foods such as nuts, fish and milk, which are becoming increasingly common.
Norwich scientists could also hold the key to a breakthrough in the battle against hospital superbugs with experts at the John Innes Centre behind a drive to find ways of killing bugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C diff).
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