Devon's first: a liver treatment that travels to the tumour, not the whole body

Until this month, a Devon patient needing Selective Internal Radiation Therapy — SIRT — had to travel to Bristol. Now University Hospitals Plymouth has delivered the treatment in Devon for the first time. SIRT sends millions of microscopic glass beads, coated with a radioactive tracer, directly into the blood vessels feeding a liver tumour, so a high dose of radiation kills cancer cells where they sit rather than washing through the whole body the way chemotherapy does — in a single round of treatment. Consultant radiologists Nelo Gafoor and Paul Jenkins delivered this first case, on a small tumour the team believes the treatment can effectively cure. 'Our patient is very happy,' they said, 'and the team are all thrilled.' Consultant Asha Omar called it what patients will feel it as: cutting-edge care, closer to home.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation