BREAST cancer patients at Winchester hospital can now benefit from pioneering radiotherapy given during surgery to target and remove tumours.

The Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust is only the second in the country outside London to offer the treatment, which uses state-of-the-art equipment to deliver radiotherapy during surgery.

It is provided at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, where previously, patients with breast cancer would have had to make up to 25 trips to Southampton for post-surgery radiotherapy.

But now, with this single-dose intra-operative radiotherapy' the number of sessions is dramatically reduced to as few as one.

The trust has been able to use a legacy donation to pay for most of the initial £349,000 equipment and set up costs.

Intra-operative radiotherapy works by using a miniature electron beam X-ray source to deliver radiation. This means that the radiation goes directly to tissues at the site of the tumour rather than the traditional post-operative method where the whole breast is irradiated after surgery.

As well as cutting the number of treatment sessions, intra-operative radiotherapy can also aid breast conservation because less tissue is damaged.

The trust is providing intra-operative radiotherapy as part of an international trial to compare this with post-operative radiotherapy in early breast cancer.

Women will have a 50-50 chance of receiving conventional radiotherapy or targeted intra-operative radiotherapy.

One patient to undergo the new treatment recently is Mrs Anne Oram, of King's Somborne.

Leading the project is consultant surgeon Mr Dick Rainsbury, who has an international reputation for pioneering techniques in breast surgery.

He said: "We're really proud to be involved.

"The trust is well known for its expertise in breast cancer so we're delighted to be leading the way with this fantastic new development."