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A A 15-year-old boy expressed his enthusiasm at the prospect of being one of the first to benefit from the NHS's proton beam therapy in the UK.
Mason Kettley, who suffers from a rare brain tumor, began treatment on Tuesday, five years after the outbreak of a human hunt by parents of Ashya King, who l & # 39; 39, have taken abroad to seek treatment.
Until last month, NHS patients were sent to the United States for treatment, if requested by the medical specialists.
Now Christie Hospital in Manchester offers a highly targeted treatment. Mason is the fourth case to be submitted and the first to talk about it publicly.
It is the first center in the UK to offer such treatment to NHS patients.
The school boy, who was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor in October, said that his experiences at the hospital convinced him that he wanted to take a doctor's training.
An inoperable tumor was diagnosed in Mason in October, as a result of headaches and lack of weight.
Doctors found that the tumor was developing in a critical part of his brain but could not function because of the risk of blindness and damage to vital brain tissue.
The lack of proton therapy in the United Kingdom was the subject of public debate in 2014, when the parents of Ashya King, then five, fled the country in search of the proton therapy because they believed in standard radiotherapy that he had to have in Southampton. would hurt his brain.
The child eventually received a proton therapy in Prague and has since been cleared of cancer.
An inoperable tumor was diagnosed in Mason in October, as a result of headaches and lack of weight.
Doctors found that the tumor was developing in a critical part of his brain but could not function because of the risk of blindness and damage to vital brain tissue.
After a biopsy and a shunt insertion operation, the doctors referred Mason's case to a national expert group.
They decided that his tumor – known as benign pilomyxoid astrocytoma – made him an ideal candidate for proton beam therapy.
Mason, who lives with his mother Cally, his father-in-law Ryan and four siblings – Taylor, 20, Logan, 10, Scarlett, seven, and Elijah, four – said he was worried about the treatment.
He said, "I'm a little worried because the machine is intimidating because of its size.
"It's a little scary, but it's a better choice than chemotherapy because it's more effective.
"Because of my age, doctors thought radiation would be a better choice.
"Their goal is to stabilize the tumor, it can contract, but it aims to stabilize it."
Mason, who enjoys spending his free time on social networks and watching movies, plans to go to McDonald's once his six weeks of treatment is over.
"I'm a tough eater but I'm going to have big chips," he said.
Because of its precision, proton beam therapy is beneficial for patients with tumors difficult to treat in critical areas, such as the brain or spinal cord, and for young people whose tissues are still developing.
Gillian Whitfield, Oncology Consultant, Clinical Consultant and Mason's Care Manager at Christie, said: "With proton beam therapy, compared to conventional radiotherapy, there is less dose in the surrounding normal tissues and less risk of permanent long-term effects of treatment.
"This is especially important for children and adolescents with curable tumors, who will survive decades after treatment and are at much greater risk than adults of experiencing serious long-term effects.
"Mason's tumor is a low-grade (slow-growing) tumor with a high risk of healing.
"For Mason, compared to conventional radiotherapy, proton beam therapy should present a lower risk of significant long-term side effects of treatment, including short-term memory effects and the ability 39, learning, as well as the risk of radiation for the next eight decades, causing other tumors. "
Two new proton beam therapy centers were built at Christie and University College London Hospital (UCLH) with £ 250 million.
Professor Stephen Powis, Medical Director of the NHS in England, said: "This is an extremely exciting development for the NHS and we are delighted to be able to provide this treatment that changes the lives of patients like Mason. . "
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