Cancer scans could spare patients from risky surgery, study finds

Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that using more cancer scans could spare hundreds of thousands of cancer patients from risky surgery.

Currently, head and neck tumours are treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy and treatment is then followed up with a three hour invasive procedure to visually check whether the growth has disappeared. The study examined 564 patients and found 80 per cent could be spared surgery by using scanning technology instead.

Complications from the surgery include disfigurement or movement problems in the arms if key nerves are damaged, with patients set to spend at least a week recovering in hospital. The survival rate stayed the same.

The scanning procedure involved using positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), a radioactive dye which is picked up by rapidly dividing cancer cells, allowing doctors to identify if the cancer is still active.

In an interview with the BBC, Professor Hisham Mehanna, from the University of Birmingham, said: "Cancerous cells hide among the dead cells, with PET-CT you can call them out and find out whether they're alive or not. We can now use this new technology to save patients having a debilitating operation and identify those that need the operation rather than give it to everybody."

The study suggested only one in five patients needed an operation to remove cancerous tissue. It also estimated that using the PET-CT scan approach could save the health service £1,492 per patient.
George Freeman, Life Sciences Minister, said: "This exciting trial has the potential to make a real difference to the lives of people with head and neck cancer, meaning that they may not have to undergo an extremely stressful medical procedure."

Professor Arnie Purushotham, from Cancer Research UK, said: "This is a really important study and if long-term follow-up confirms these results, this imaging technique could mean kinder treatments for patients with head and neck cancer.

"There could also be opportunities to expand this approach to other types of cancer and also potentially saving money for the NHS."