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Cutting edge service
available to Liverpool prostate cancer patients
PATIENTS at the Royal Liverpool and
Broadgreen University Hospitals will be the 1st outside London to receive
cutting edge prostate cancer diagnostic services.
The Trust is the 1st and only site in the country outside of London to provide
the ground breaking new Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) test using
their PET/CT (positron emission tomography computed tomography) scanner.
Nuclear medicine specialists from the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals
NHS Trust are working with the highly specialised radiopharmacy staff as well as
consultants from Urology, Oncology and Radiology.
The test is based on a completely new method for spotting the early signs of a
returning prostate cancer.
It aims to increase life expectancy for patients with a variety of long term
conditions including cancer and heart disease and to address the complex health
needs of some groups of patients.
Radioactive material is injected into a vein and can be viewed on the PET/CT
scanner. The scans can potentially identify cancer cells that have spread beyond
the prostate gland.
A team of specialists can then identify a treatment plan, which specifically
targets and treats the patient's specific type of cancer.
This also means that if treatment is required it can begin sooner, and for those
patients that do not require treatment they can be reassured.
Mr Cornford, consultant urological surgeon at the Royal Liverpool University
Hospital said:- "We want to deliver the best treatment to our patients,
revolutionary diagnostic tests greatly impacts on a patient's diagnosis.
Understanding the benefits of this new test is pivotal in the fight against
prostate cancer. PMSA/PET scanning will help us to identify prostate cancer
recurrence earlier. This will allow us to provide innovative treatments which
are personalised to patient's diagnosis. The continuous work will create the
opportunity to research into developing cures."
Professor Vinjamuri, lead consultant in nuclear medicine at the Royal Liverpool
University Hospital added:- "The launch of this test in Liverpool ahead of
other bigger cancer centres has been made possible because of our unique and
specialist expertise in the fields of radiopharmacy, nuclear medicine and
medical imaging.
The PSMA test is part of a programme of continuous research and development into
diagnostic tests which brings us another step closer to providing the best care
possible to our patients"
The collaboration and investment of clinical expertise and time to develop the
research is vital in helping to continue delivering the best care to cancer
patients across Merseyside and surrounding areas. |
