THE therapeutic proton beam at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is being used for ground-breaking research to find effective treatments for head and neck cancers.

A team of scientists at Liverpool University is investigating squamous cell carcinoma, which is found in the mouth lining, nose and throat.

Nearly 600,000 new cases are reported a year, making it the sixth most common cancer worldwide. It is also notoriously difficult to treat.

The therapy is currently used specifically to treat patients with eye cancer. To date 3,060 patients have been treated.

Under supervision of Dr Jason Parsons, the team will use the beam to investigate the impact of protons on head and neck SCC cells.

Dr Parsons said: "Our research explores the effect that radiotherapy, including x-rays and protons, has on different types of head and neck cancers, looking closely at the DNA damage the radiation causes and how cancer cells repair themselves after treatment.

"We've found that in some cancer types resistance to conventional radiotherapy is high, so we started to explore how proton therapies could be used as an alternative in these cases to increase cancer cell killing.

"We are still in the early stages of our research, but thanks to the support of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, which has made the proton beam available for our research, we have been able to make significant progress.

"We are the first and only research team to use the proton beam facility in this type of cancer research and it is exciting to be at the forefront of medical research and using ground-breaking equipment to advance cancer research.”

The research is supported by a three-year grant worth £187,000 from North West Cancer Research.

It is boosted by £20,000 worth of funding from The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity to create a dedicated research laboratory at the hospital which will allow easier access to the proton beam biology research.

Professor Michael Brada, consultant in clinical oncology at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said: "The well-characterised low energy beam in Clatterbridge is ideal for biological experiments.

"Providing the technology to the team for this research illustrates the importance of a collaborative approach in developing and testing new ways to treat head and neck cancer".

Alastair Richards, chief executive of North West Cancer Research, added: "Dr Parsons' work, which is based at the North West Cancer Research Centre, is a truly collaborative approach utilising the state-of-the-art proton beam technologies available right here on our doorstep.

"It is our hope that this research will yield some positive outcomes, which could influence and improve treatments for head and neck cancer patients."