Why I became one of the first women in the UK to have pioneering proton beam ... trends now

Pioneering proton beam therapy is being tested as a treatment, instead of conventional radiotherapy, for breast cancer patients with existing heart problems. Kim Jones, 44, a school caterer and mother-of-two from Ely, Cambridgeshire, was one of the first in the UK to have it as part of a trial. 

THE PATIENT

Early last year, I noticed the skin on the top of my left breast looked thickened and unusual, and I started getting sharp stabbing pains in the same breast.

I saw my GP two weeks later, and after a mammogram, ultrasound and two biopsies, I was diagnosed with cancer that had spread to lymph nodes in my armpit — a stage 3 cancer. (Lymph nodes are glands that help the immune system fight off infections; cancer can spread via the lymph system.)

I was shocked as I'd never had even a scare before. Telling my husband Mark and our sons Dylan, 14, and Elwood, 11, was the hardest part.

My oncology team were very reassuring: from the start, they said they were looking to cure me. I would have seven cycles of chemotherapy, as well as surgery to remove my left breast as the tumour was quite large (7.5 cm).

I was told this would be followed by radiotherapy to 'mop up' any remaining cancerous cells.

It was during an appointment at my local hospital, Addenbrooke's in Cambridge, following the mastectomy last August, that I learned about the PARABLE trial.

This was comparing conventional radiotherapy with proton beam therapy, which is more precise, in early breast cancer patients (where cancer has not spread beyond the breast or lymph nodes) who have existing heart issues. Conventional radiotherapy isn't ideal in these patients as there is a small risk of it damaging the heart.

I have an irregular heartbeat, due to a leaky heart valve, and knowing that my heart would be more at risk with conventional treatment, I was keen to get on the trial. Fortunately, I was accepted.

The treatment itself was at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, Monday to Friday, for three weeks. I stayed in a nearby hotel and was bussed into the unit each day.

Before starting, they made a mould of my body, lying on my back with my arms raised, so that I lay in the same position each session. This was to ensure the beam targeted the correct spot: in my case, the lymph nodes above my collar bone, close to my breast bone.

I began treatment last October. Each of the 15 sessions lasted about 45 minutes, and although the proton beam machine was quite noisy, I didn't feel any discomfort. But each session left me fatigued, and I was advised to moisturise the skin of my left breast often. Two weeks after finishing, the skin close to where my breast had been removed appeared red and felt like mild sunburn for a few days.

The Christie will monitor me for the rest of my life and I have an echocardiogram every three months to check my heart. Fortunately, nothing has changed since before my cancer diagnosis.

I'm slowly getting my strength back. I can enjoy walking, being out with my family and eventually want to return to work.

THE SPECIALIST

Dr Carmel Anandadas is a consultant clinical oncologist at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester.