Coventry hospital achieves major breakthrough for cancer treatment

Conor Knell

30 November 2024 at 8:15 am·2-min read

University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire — -Credit: (Image: SWNS)

A Coventry hospital has claimed it is the first in the world to expand the use of a new scanner for cancer patients, described by doctors as a “game changer” for improving cancer care. The scanner focuses on those who have the disease in their neck and head.

University Hospital Coventry is using an Aura-10 on a trial basis to check whether all the cancer has been removed from patients while they are still on the operating table. The hospital has also become the first in the UK to use the machine to treat prostate cancer.

Currently in the NHS, a tumour has to be sent to a lab for testing after it has been removed. In Coventry this takes four to five weeks.

The Aura-10, which combines a CT scanner and a PET scanner in a small mobile unit, can produce high-resolution submillimetre images of the cancer in a tumour in 10 minutes. One doctor at the hospital said to the BBC that the machine could therefore reduce a patient's need for chemotherapy or radiotherapy in the future.

Donald MacDonald, a urology consultant at the trust, has been using the Aura-10 for prostate cancer operations. He told the BBC "this is an absolute game changer for prostate cancer surgery and has the potential to make Coventry one of the best prostate cancer centres in the world."

The equipment costs about £250,000 but it could save money, given staff shortages in histopathology and the likelihood of less need for further treatment. John Elliot, the trust's head of cancer services, said to the BBC “this is still a trial and we are about halfway through, but we are really excited about the results. They appear to be as good as the pathology labs and, in future, this could be used in a lot more areas of cancer care."

The trust said a lot of hospitals around the country were interested in the work being done in Coventry. The interest means it could be adopted by other centres.

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