CANCER patients at a Glasgow hospital are set to benefit from a new surgery that's only been offerend in England so far.
The Beatson Cancer Charity has awarded £67,000 towards a state-of-the-art machine at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital that heats up chemotherapy drugs and pumps them into the abdomen while the patient is on the operating table.
Until now, people with advanced colon and appendix cancers receiving this treatment have had to travel to Basingstoke or Manchester for it to be administered.
Dr James Park, Consultant of Colorectal and General Surgery, said: “I would like to thank the Beatson Cancer Charity for their financial support. The purchase of the machine will allow us to offer surgery for patients in the west of Scotland who so far have only been able to undergo such treatment in specialist centres in England.
“Having the chance to undergo treatment closer to home will hopefully make this much less stressful for patients and their families.”
In total, the Beatson Cancer Charity has approved £1.36 milion for 23 medics through its research and development fund.
The Glasgow Tissue Research Facility will also benefit from £140,000 to improve the early detection of colon cancer by using artificial intelligence technology.
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Clinical service manager Margaret Gray is also receiving £30,000 which will provide the Beatson in Glasgow with its first portable echo machine, which enables the sonographer to carry out cardiac ultrasounds at patients bedside.
A further £30,000 is also going towards using photodynamic treatment for glioblastoma and £67,000 has been gifted to assist with the early detection of liver cancer.
The charity is also supporting a research study for head and neck cancers in Glasgow, with a £94,000 grant to improve treatment, while an award of £129,000 has also been made to a research project to identify genes and pathways of prostate cancer.
Dr Imran Ahmad, who is a clinical senior lecturer, honorary consultant and urological surgeon at the University of Glasgow, hopes the backing will help provide information on the drivers of prostate cancer progression.
He said: “I am delighted to secure this funding which will enable us to train the next generation of scientists to identify new treatments."
Nearly £100,00 will be invested in an 18-month research project which aims to predict when a polyp could turn into bowel cancer. Around £29,000 is also being granted to support a research project into pancreatic cancer."
Other grants supported by the fund include those focusing on ovarian cancer and leukaemia.
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Martin Cawley, CEO of Beatson Cancer Charity, said: “This has been an exciting initiative for us to be involved in. We're grateful to be able to fund these projects.
“We have continued to work in close partnership with clinicians and researchers at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre and the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research to help to deliver life-saving research over the years.
“We’d like to thank everyone who applied to our development and research fund and we are looking forward to hearing updates from these projects.”
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