Kidney cancer patients spared Plymouth trips after Truro first

A fine antenna, a burst of microwave energy, and a tumour destroyed from the inside. That’s the procedure Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) has just carried out for the first time, and it means patients no longer have to leave the county for one of the least invasive ways to treat kidney cancer.

What the procedure involves

Microwave ablation works by inserting a fine antenna directly into a renal tumour while the patient is under general anaesthetic. Clinicians use CT imaging to guide it precisely into place, then deliver microwave energy to destroy the tumour without the need for major surgery.

The first patient treated under the new service at RCHT recovered well and was back home the following day.

Why the journey to Plymouth mattered

Until now, anyone in Cornwall needing this treatment had to travel to Plymouth to get it. An audit carried out by RCHT found that as many as 30% of eligible patients simply couldn’t make that journey, for social, personal or practical reasons, and ended up choosing major surgery instead purely because it was available closer to home.

Bringing the procedure to Cornwall changes that calculation. It follows more than five years of work to secure approval and get the service established locally, a timeline that says as much about the complexity of introducing specialist care in Cornwall as it does about the procedure itself.

The team behind the first case

The procedure was led by a multi-disciplinary team including interventional radiology consultants Dr Helena Barton, Dr Rhys Llewelyn and Dr Angie Rogers, alongside Dr Jonathan Skinner from Exeter Hospital, who is supporting RCHT through its first few cases. Dan Canning, a representative from AngioDynamics Solero, provided expert industry support. IR nurses Laura Wall and Robyn MacDonald were also part of the team.

Mark Mantle, Head of Cancer Services, said the first case had gone well. “This is an important development for patients in Cornwall, providing access to a minimally invasive treatment closer to home,” he said. “We hope to expand this service to treat some types of liver cancer and liver metastases in the coming months.”

What comes next

For now, the focus is on NHS care in Cornwall bedding the new service in. But Mark’s comment about liver cancer and liver metastases suggests this is the first of several conditions the trust hopes to treat this way, rather than a one-off addition to the list of things Cornwall no longer has to send patients to Plymouth for.

RCHT runs from three main sites across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly: Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, St Michael’s Hospital in Hayle and West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance, with around 750 inpatient beds between them.

📷Credit: Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust