14 January 2021

All women having Plasma Jet treatment will benefit from greater certainty of disease clearance

The Plasma Jet has been funded thanks to generous donations to Above & Beyond. The machine provides a new innovative treatment for women with cervical cancer.

It uses plasma energy to vaporise small sports of cancer from the bowel, spleen and liver, meaning patients spend less time in hospital, have a much lower chance of the cancer returning and have higher survival rates.

Plasma jet has three key patient benefits:

• Patients have a higher chance of survival: The Plasma Jet is more successful in removing all traces of the tumour. Women with advanced ovarian cancer who may not have been treated due to the risks of electro-surgery can be treated with plasma jet
• Minimal damage is caused to the bowel tissue, which reduces the need for further treatment and means shorter hospital stays
• Reduced length of operations, reducing the chance of complications like infection.

Dr Claire Newton, Consultant Gynae-oncology Surgeon at St Michael’s Hospital, said: “All women having plasma jet treatment will benefit from greater certainty of disease clearance. All my personal experience with it has been extremely positive, and having one in St Michael’s would make such a difference to our patients.” 

I have used it on two patients with widespread ovarian cancer. The first patient was surgically resected to nil residual disease that I couldn’t have done without the Plasma Jet. This means her overall survival from the cancer will be improved.

The other patient saved me from needing to do a bowel resection and give her a stoma as I was able to use the Plasma Jet to get rid of the disease on the surface of the bowel without damaging it. She has just left hospital and is doing very well – her quality of life will be better without a stoma.

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