‘Sat nav’ machine targets cancer cells
A groundbreaking radiotherapy device which could transform the way some cancer patients are treated goes into service today.
The machine, the Novalis Tx, will enable doctors to treat patients with tumours virtually anywhere in the body in just a single session. The device uses a ‘sat nav’ like targeting system to destroy cancerous cells and helps to protect surrounding healthy tissue.
Around 800 patients are expected to be treated with the device at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Liverpool, in its first year. The machines will also go into service in Edinburgh and Manchester.
Almost 300,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each year and recent estimates show that of these almost 50,000 develop either primary or secondary brain tumours.