£80,000 target for new skin cancer treatment

Barts and The London Charity is hoping to raise nearly £80,000 from donations, to fund a piece of equipment that could revolutionise the treatment of skin cancer.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in this country and numbers are rising rapidly. The Skin Cancer Centre at Barts and The London NHS Trust is one of the largest units in the UK. Patients are treated for all types of skin cancer, including the most aggressive form, malignant melanoma.

Mr Graeme Moir, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, said: “Treatment of malignant melanoma is primarily surgical, with no effective radiotherapy or chemotherapy treatments routinely available. Many patients develop recurrent tumours close to the original tumour site and in these cases, repeated operations are often not possible.”

The skin cancer team is one of only two NHS hospitals in the UK using a new treatment called electrochemotherapy. This treatment is ideal for skin tumours where standard treatments have either failed or are inappropriate.

The machine uses an electric current to help deliver chemotherapy into the tumour. Standard chemotherapy produces dangerous side effects when given intravenously, but is highly effective when given in low doses, and when an electric current is applied through the skin by a device called a cliniporator.

The team currently have a cliniporator on loan and have had very impressive results from it. They would like to purchase this piece of equipment to help benefit many more skin cancer patients who have no other alternative and help prove its value to other hospitals around the country.

A spokeperson for Barts and The London Charity said: "The cliniporator costs £78,700 and we are actively fundraising towards this total. Could you help us reach our target, so that seriously ill patients with skin cancer can benefit from the very latest technology available?"

• To support this project, please contact the fundraising team on 020 7618 1720

A skin cancer cell with characteristic microvilli (small projections) on the surface. This is a squamous cell carcinoma which is linked to sun damage.