THOUSANDS of men with prostate cancer are to get ultra high-powered radiotherapy on the NHS for the first time.
The procedure blasts tumours from multiple angles to kill more cells.
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The Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy device will be available to thousands of men with prostate cancer on the NHS Credit: LeedsTeachingHospitalsNHSTrust
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in British men and the number of people being diagnosed with the cancer has increased in recent years Credit: Getty
It cuts the number of required sessions from 20 to five, reducing damage to healthy cells.
Around 17,500 men a year will be eligible for the Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) and the NHS reckons 3,500 will take the opportunity.
Clinics will offer the treatment from next week to those with early stage low or intermediate risk tumours that have not spread.
NHS cancer chief Prof Peter Johnson said: “This technology focuses a powerful and precise beam of radiotherapy directly onto the cancer, limiting damage to healthy cells.”
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Prostate cancer affects one in eight men in the UK in their lifetime.
Yet many men won’t be able to name a symptom of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in British men and the number of people being diagnosed with the cancer has increased in recent years.
The symptoms can be vague and creep up on you over many years, or not appear at all.
The prostate is a small, walnut-sized gland, that only men have.
It sits around the urethra – the tube a bloke pees and ejaculates from – between the penis and the bladder.
Prostate cancer currently kills 11,500 men a year, which is one victim every 45 minutes in the UK.
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Symptoms of prostate cancer can include:
needing to pee more frequently, often during the night
needing to rush to the toilet
difficulty in starting to pee (hesitancy)
straining or taking a long time while peeing
weak flow
feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully
blood in urine or blood in semen
Source: NHS
