A teenager with a brain tumor must follow a proton beam therapy | Society

A 15-year-old with a rare brain tumor needs innovative proton beam therapy at the UK's first specialist treatment center.

Mason Kettley of Angmering, West Susbad, will receive a highly targeted treatment, which helps reduce tumors and reduce the risk of side effects.

It will take place at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, where the world's newest proton beam processing center is located on Wednesday.

Mason is one of the first patients in the UK to undergo proton beam therapy and the first to be made public. Until now, British patients requiring treatment had to travel to countries such as the United States.

Proton beam therapy is a highly targeted treatment that affects tumors much more precisely than conventional radiotherapy. This makes it 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.

The most prominent case of proton beam therapy is that of Aysha King, a five-year-old who was operated on for a brain tumor at the Southampton General Hospital in 2014. Against At the hospital, his parents took the child to Spain for proton beam therapy because the NHS did not provide treatment at that time. The case sparked an international manhunt for the family and Aysha's parents were arrested. The High Court finally ruled that Aysha could receive a proton beam therapy in Prague. In 2018, Aysha was declared free from cancer.

An inoperable tumor was diagnosed in Mason in October, as a result of headaches and lack of weight. After a biopsy and a shunt insertion operation, the doctors referred Mason's case to a national group of experts. They decided that his tumor – known as benign pilomyxoid astrocytoma – made him an ideal candidate for proton beam therapy.

Mason will be on treatment Monday to Friday for almost six weeks, a total of 28 treatment sessions.

A specially designed radiation mask was created to keep his head perfectly still during therapy.

"The short-term effects are that you can throw up and have a headache once in a while, but in the long run side effects are rare."

Mason, who will sit next year at the GCSEs, will have six weeks off school before returning home.

Two new proton beam therapy centers were built at Christie and University College London Hospital (UCLH) with £ 250 million.

Dr. Gillian Whitfield, consultant oncologist, who directs Mason's care at Christie, said: "With proton beam therapy, compared to conventional radiotherapy, the dose received by surrounding normal tissues is reduced and the risk of long-term permanent effects of treatment.

"This is especially important for children and teens with curable tumors, who will survive decades after treatment and are at much greater risk than adults of having 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 Learning, as well as the risk of radiation for the next eight decades. causing other tumors. "

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. . "