THE North East has become the first place in Europe to get a £1.2m cancer scanner – thanks in part to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.
The charity set up by the late Newcastle United manager has given £625,000 to buy the ABT Molecular Imaging Biomarker Generator, which is being installed at Newcastle University this week.
The machine is only the second of its type in the world, and the first in Europe, and will help with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other serious diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Newcastle University has invested £600,000 in the machinery, which is hoped will play a significant role in the development of new cancer treatments.
Sir Bobby’s widow Lady Robson said: “It’s wonderful to see this piece of equipment actually becoming a reality and being prepared for use.
“We rely on the cancer expertise of our medical trustees who are always looking for promising new treatments which could make a real difference to people currently fighting cancer as well as helping with research into the disease. And when they explained the benefits of the Biomarker Generator to my family and I we shared their enthusiasm.
“It’s a very significant investment for our charity, the largest we’ve made so far, and something we simply couldn’t have done without the incredible support we receive.
“It’s truly humbling when you think about the many thousands of donations and fundraising events which have gone into making this happen.”
The Biomarker Generator creates radioactive tracers which are given to patients who then undergo scans.
The information collected through this imaging helps doctors understand where the disease is in each patient, how serious the disease is, and the underlying processes and pathways that are sustaining the illness.
The tracers can also be used to see whether a new drug has penetrated a tumour and whether a new treatment is damaging the tumour cells and stopping them growing.
Herbie Newell, professor of cancer therapeutics at the Newcastle Cancer Centre at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research, said: “The Biomarker Generator is cutting-edge technology that will allow us to make sure that we deliver the best possible care for each patient we treat, whilst learning at the same time as much as possible about our new drugs.”
In addition to funding the new equipment, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation has also equipped the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care and funded a specialist clinical research nurse and research doctor within the centre.
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