Patients are now being treated in the Christie for ground breaking treatment
Fifteen-year-old Mason Kettley, who has a rare brain cancer, is about to become one of the first NHS UK patients to have proton-beam therapy, at a new dedicated treatment centre.
He is starting treatment at the £125m centre at Manchester’s Christie hospital. Previously, most patients needing the treatment had to travel abroad. This specialist radiotherapy treatment targets cancers without damaging tissues surrounding the tumours. This is good treatment for children who are at risk of lasting damage to organs that are still growing. This treatment was previously only a handful of countries around the world.
After many years of preparing The Christie’s new proton beam therapy centre has begun treating patients, one of the first is Mason, from West Sussex. Patients who are eligible for treatment will be referred to The Christie from across the UK until University College London Hospital (UCL) opens next year. The new PBT centre will improve the lives of so many patients and their families and relieve the stress of having to uproot to another country for weeks or months at a time to receive proton treatment. You can read more about Mason’s story here.
The Tim Bacon Foundation are delighted to have supported the proton beam research room in our inaugural year by raising £500,000 toward the build and equipment in a dedicated research room within The Proton Beam Therapy centre. In total The Christie charity raised £5.6 million. Ongoing research into proton beam therapy will continue with the aim of improving outcomes and side effects of proton treatment.