A revolutionary cancer treatment that could prevent thousands of patients from undergoing life-changing surgery has been approved for use on the NHS.
What is the Papillon Treatment?
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has recommended the pioneering therapy, named Papillon, for fit patients with rectal cancer. It is specifically endorsed for those whose tumours are 3cm or smaller, and who either opt against surgery or are considered at high risk from such procedures.
Papillon is a form of brachytherapy. It involves carefully inserting an X-ray tube through the anus into the rectum to deliver precise, low doses of radiation directly to cancerous tumours. A major benefit of this non-surgical option is that patients can potentially avoid needing a stoma – an abdominal opening that diverts waste into an external bag.
Nice stated that avoiding this procedure “substantially improves” quality of life. Patients with larger tumours may also become eligible if other treatments first reduce their tumour size to 3cm or less.
A Victory for Patient Choice and Quality of Life
The technique was pioneered by Professor Sun Myint, a 77-year-old consultant in clinical oncology at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Merseyside. He has treated approximately 3,000 patients with the therapy over 33 years.
“This decision is a great victory for patients who will now have a choice for the treatment they prefer,” Prof Myint said. “It is wonderful that patients will now be given a choice of treatment and many of them will have a much better quality of life later because of it.”
He led the Opera trial, a five-year study which found Papillon helped preserve organs 93 per cent of the time in cases of rectal cancer where tumours measured 3cm or less.
Patient Experience and Broader Impact
Sharon Price, a 45-year-old NHS worker from Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, was successfully treated as part of the study. Faced with surgery that would have meant a permanent stoma, she described the prospect as “devastating”.
“I was just too young to have to go through that,” she said. “I was offered the chance to join the clinical trial, and I decided to do it immediately.”
Dr Caroline Brammer, medical director at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, highlighted the wider benefits: “This development will help reduce surgical waiting lists and costs to the NHS and improve quality of life for many patients with rectal cancer.”
Prof Myint, who intends to continue working until the treatment is standard globally, added: “I feel that I have done my job and I can now hang up my gloves.”
Colorectal cancer – encompassing cancers of the rectum, bowel and colon – is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with over 41,000 new cases diagnosed annually.
