A sixty-year-old cancer survivor is urging women to get checked on World Cancer Day today after claiming she feels lucky to be alive.
Alison Rose, from Kingston Hill, was diagnosed with breast cancer when she went for a routine screening in September last year despite being low risk and having no family history of breast or related cancers.
At the Cancer Centre London, in Parkside, Wimbledon, she received pioneering treatment, and was given the all clear in December last year, after a testing period that she said changed her life.
Ms Rose said: "Now my philosophy towards life is, ‘don’t put things off’, which includes going for health check-ups.
"Even if you feel, like me, that it won’t happen to you, it’s not worth taking the chance.
"You never think it will happen to you. I feel very lucky that it was picked up so early and that I was able to access such good services so close to me."
At the Cancer Centre she became one of the first Londoners to receive pioneering radiotherapy treatment using a Versa HD linear accelerator machine which is designed to deliver extremely accurate treatment which minimises the impact on healthy tissue and reduces side effects.
It can be used to treat cancers in several parts of the body, such as head, neck breast and prostate.
The availability of the technology in the UK is limited however, with Aspen Healthcare’s at the Cancer Centre being the only London-based centre offering the treatment.
Ms Rose's consultant at Cancer Centre London, Dr Charles Lowdell, said: "The Versa HD technology has the ability to continually reshape the radiation beam to the fine contours of the tumour so we were able to treat Alison with a high dose of radiation while minimising damage to the surrounding tissue.
"I am pleased to say that this technology contributed to Alison making a full recovery."
Find out more about World Cancer Day on the website www.worldcancerday.org.
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