Hi-tech hope for cancer patients

Space technology could be used to treat breast cancer patients within two years, it was claimed yesterday.

Scientists have combined advanced medical techniques with European Space Agency know-how to develop a device which can locate tumours and kill them with ultrasound.

Experts hope it could be ready to treat breast cancer, the most common cancer among British women, as early as 2006.

The technique, called ActiveFU, combines MRI scanning to find and diagnose tumours with high-intensity focused ultrasound, which then destroys malignant cells.

Dutch expert Brunsveld van Hulten said many challenges in the project had already been overcome.

It will give cancer sufferers a more patient-friendly option, without the side-effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: 'Translating research from other fields to treat breast cancer is good news and should be encouraged.'

More than 40,700 British women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000 - up 12 per cent since 1995.

US doctors said last year that technology used in America's 'Star Wars' nuclear defence programme could also help women with breast cancer.