Scottish skin cancer breakthrough
A BREAKTHROUGH treatment which will allow thousands of skin cancer sufferers to treat themselves at home has been discovered by Scots researchers.
As the number of cases of the most common cancer in the UK continues to soar in Scotland, experts at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee have hailed the new development as a cheap and user-friendly way to help patients increase their chances of recovery.
They have discovered a new way of combining chemicals and light to destroy skin tumours, which will dramatically cut the number of hospital visits patients have to make.
The treatment is based on Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), in which malignant growths are impregnated with light-sensitive drugs before they are activated by a powerful light source, causing a chemical reaction which destroys the tumour cells.
The results of the research are still to be published and consultant dermatologist Professor James Ferguson said he did not want to give too much away about the development.
But he added: 'We know PDT works but we wanted to make it better. We looked at using more light sources to make a more convenient and more effective low-cost form that can be used at home.'
Ferguson's team has developed a prototype of the device and hopes it will be available within 18 months.
Cases of skin cancer have been doubling every 10 years in Scotland. About 8% of Scots get the condition during their lifetimes, and around 6,500 cases are diagnosed each year.
A third of those with the most serious form, malignant melanoma, die, and 60% of those with the deepest type of melanoma are killed by it.
An ageing population is thought to be partly to blame, since skin cancer is much more common in the elderly.
But sunshine holidays abroad and the over-use of sunbeds are also a major factor, experts in the field believe.
Ferguson said treatment was hindered by a lack of specialists in Scotland. There are only 40 consultants north of the Border for the country's five million population, while Norway has 10 times the number for a similarly sized population.
Experts also want to see more emphasis on dermatology for medical students.
Ferguson said: 'Sorting out the troubles for skin specialists lies in undergraduate and postgraduate education. We are calling for improved education for medical students and primary care practitioners in terms of skin cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
'On average, UK medical students get five days dermatology training during their courses.'
The team at Ninewells is based at the hospital's Scottish Photodynamic Therapy Centre, which opened three years ago. Since then it has carried out more than 1,600 treatments. Skin cancer is the major focus of the work there, with more than 1,400 procedures carried out on 400 patients.
The centre is entirely funded by the Dumfermline-based Barbara Stewart Cancer Trust.
PDT can also be used internally on the gullet, lungs, bladder, bile duct, brain and eyes, usually through an endoscope or intravenous methods. But skin cancer treatment is the most advanced area of the treatment as tumours are easy to get at.
'We basically find that by putting a cream on an area of affected skin for three to four hours and then exposing it to a light source, we can get complete cures to selective tumours and tumours which have not yet become malignant,' Ferguson said.
PDT achieves an overall clearance rate of 93%, with recurrence rates of up to only 10% over a 12-month period.
A side-effect of the treatment sees some patients remaining photosensitive for weeks afterwards, which means the skin is sensitive to daylight.
A home-based treatment is part of an aim to make treatment more 'patient-friendly'.
Ferguson said: 'The attraction is that for selected types of cancer it is a relatively non-invasive procedure.'
The centre is also looking at other innovative therapies, some of which are in use in England and Wales but not north of the Border.
An example is Moh's Surgery - an invasive form of treatment for serious tumours. Although numerous centres in England are performing the procedure, the NHS does not fund it in Scotland.
'Some cancers have roots spreading underneath the skin. Moh's surgery is an invasive form of treatment for nasty tumours and I'm keen Scotland gets a centre,' Ferguson said.
But prevention was just as important as developing new treatments, he added.
He attacked the lack of funding for public awareness campaigns on sensible behaviour in the sun and sunbed exposure.
'There are campaigns but they are done on a shoestring by public education groups.
'Education has been well down the agenda and people put themselves at risk when exposed to sunlight or sunbeds. Summer holidays and sunbeds are the two most significant accepted factors in skin cancer production.
'There is calculated evidence suggesting that 100 people a year die from cancers associated with sunbed use.'
Ferguson said enjoying the sun was about moderation and taking precautions.
'The messages in prevention is for people to enjoy themselves but not to resort to undue risks,' he added.
View drug information on Photodynamic Therapy.
Scottish cancerului de piele Breakthrough - Scottish skin cancer breakthrough - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate