The leading charity in the United Kingdom funding cancer research has created a 360-degree film of a cancer patient undergoing an operation that will save her life. Cancer Research UK filmed the surgery to illustrate how a project it spent £1.4 million funding has been able to deliver assistance to those who suffer from oesophageal cancer. This form of cancer affects the tube that delivers food from the throat to the stomach and according to Cancer Research UK is one of the hardest cancers to detect and treat.
Saving lives
According to a statement released by Cancer Research UK, the operation took place at Southampton General Hospital was conducted by Professor Tim Underwood whom according to the charity is producing ground breaking research. The patient whose name is Janet and is aged 65 has stage 3 oesphagael cancer agreed to be filmed during surgery so that the charity is able to demonstrate how it is saving lives of people like her and potentially helping thousands of people in the future.
Video on YouTube
The four-minute video has been posted to social media through Cancer Research UK’s YouTube channel and we aren’t posting it because as the video clearly warns at the beginning, some people may find the content of the video disturbing. The video release coincides with the revelation by Cancer Research UK that less chemotherapy is perhaps better for older and frailer patients suffering from stomach and oesphageal cancers.
Targeted therapies
Dr Peter Hall, Co-Chief Investigator from the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre says that the medical community is increasingly coming to the realisation that it is not just age that determines how well a patient can tolerate their treatment. He adds that much more work needs to be done to understand how other conditions or aspects of frailty may have an impact. Dr Hall concludes that researchers now need to look beyond chemotherapies and start examining some of the latest more targeted therapies or immunotherapies to better understand how treatment can be tailored for different patients based on their individual circumstances.
