UCLH welcomes its 1,000th NHS proton beam therapy patient – meet Seren

UCLH has welcomed its 1000th patient to our proton beam therapy department, which opened in December 2021.  

UCLH is one of two national NHS centres delivering proton beam therapy, along with The Christie in Manchester. The high-energy proton treatment reduces the risk of radiation damage to healthy tissues, which makes it an ideal treatment for certain cancers. Our 1000th patient is three-year-old Seren from Bournemouth.  

Seren’s story 

Seren, from Bournemouth, was diagnosed with a type of brain cancer, called an ependymoma, in July this year after the family returned from a holiday in Devon. Dad Mark explains,  

“We’d had a lovely holiday with Seren and her baby sister, and Seren had been enjoying swimming and the kids' disco in particular, as she loves to dance. The day after we returned home, she seemed a little out of sorts and wobbly, and had a crook in her neck which seemed really unusual. We thought it might be muscular, but took her to our local hospital to get it checked out.” 

The local hospital ran some tests but, after a couple of days, Seren was still not feeling like herself and had a CT scan. This showed that she had a brain tumour in the back of her head. She was rushed by ambulance, with mum Clare, to University Hospital Southampton’s specialist children’s neurological ward. An MRI scan in Southampton General Hospital revealed that, fortunately, the tumour could be operated on. 

Seren’s mum Clare, said, “It was a complete whirlwind – one minute Seren was a healthy three-year-old having fun on holiday and the next we were being transferred to Southampton with a really serious diagnosis. Although we were extremely worried, we felt fortunate that the tumour was operable.” 

Seren had her surgery on 8 July. It took 12 hours in total, but the team in Southampton managed to remove the tumour. After the operation, it was confirmed that the tumour was cancerous, and that she would be referred to UCLH for proton beam therapy to eradicate any potential remaining cancer cells and reduce the chances of it returning. 

Seren was discharged from University Hospital Southampton in mid-August, following weeks of physiotherapy and support to help her recover from her operation. She had to learn to walk and swallow again. The family travelled to London at the end of August for six weeks of proton beam therapy treatment in the University College Hospital Grafton Way Building.   

Seren’s proton beam therapy treatment involves highly targeted radiotherapy every weekday for six weeks. As she is only three, she has a general anaesthetic each day before the treatment as patients have to lie very still to make sure the treatment is effective. She also wears a mask painted with unicorns which her parents plan to keep to show her when she is older.  

Dad Mark explains,  

“Seren doesn’t really understand the treatment or the enormity of her journey over the last few months, as she’s still so little. But she has been so happy while having proton beam therapy at UCLH and loves the playroom and the therapy cat that visits too! She gets to watch Peppa Pig in the anaesthetic room each morning before treatment so she runs into the room to do that.”  

Mum Clare said,  

“We feel incredibly fortunate that Seren has been able to have proton beam therapy in the UK as we know that only a few years ago people had to travel abroad for this treatment. The fact that she is the 1000th NHS patient to be treated here is really special.” 

Seren’s parents explained that she is slowly getting back to herself, and is looking forward to seeing her friends in Bournemouth and starting school next year. She has been left with a slight misalignment of her eyes following the surgery, but this is improving and will be monitored as part of regular check-ups on her progress. 

Dr Jenny Gains, consultant oncologist and Seren’s doctor, said, 

“Every patient is different but for Seren, PBT is an ideal treatment to follow up on the surgery that removed her tumour. As she is only three, her brain is still developing and she obviously has a lot of growing still to do. PBT allows us to target the tumour site precisely, minimising the risk of damaging healthy tissue and brain cells, which is especially important for children.” 

About proton beam therapy 

Proton beam therapy is a form of radiotherapy used to treat certain cancers. It uses high-energy beams of protons to deliver a dose of radiotherapy. It is highly targeted so it reduces the risk of radiation damage to healthy tissues surrounding the tumour site.  

Since our PBT centre opened almost four years ago, we have treated 1,000 adults and children with PBT on the NHS from across the south of UK. Before UCLH and The Christie began treating cancer patients with proton beam therapy, the NHS had to pay for people who needed it to be treated abroad.  

Laura Allington, operational lead for PBT, said,  

“It is wonderful to meet this milestone of treating 1,000 NHS patients in our PBT department, and great to mark this achievement with Seren and her family. We are immensely proud of what we have achieved since we first opened our doors in December 2021.” 

Dr Yen-Ching Chang, clinical lead for PBT, added,  

“This is a huge milestone. We have a large team involved in delivering this service, both those who work directly with our amazing patients and families, but also those who work behind the scenes. Everyone should be very proud of their contribution to this fantastic achievement.” 

Our PBT service is nationally commissioned by NHS England to provide NHS treatment to children and adults from across the south of England. We also work with Proton International London who can offer privately funded proton beam therapy for certain patients.