Pioneering NHS trial targets brain tumours before surgery

Treatment options for brain tumour patients have not improved significantly in decades, with fewer than 10% of those with glioblastomas living more than five years. Photograph: Phanie/Alamy

The NHS has begun a world-first clinical trial of a pioneering treatment technique aimed at extending the lives of people with brain tumours.

A team of radiologists, neurosurgeons, oncologists, nurses, physicists and pathologists are using detailed MRI scans and highly targeted radiotherapy before surgery with the aim of reducing the likelihood of tumours growing back quickly, thereby helping patients live longer.