Yorkshire charity funds £294k technology to improve children’s cancer treatment in Leeds

A Yorkshire charity is funding £294,000 worth of specialist technology to make cancer treatment more accurate and less distressing for children in Leeds.

The Luma Foundation is funding new surface-guided radiography (SGRT) equipment at Leeds Cancer Centre, Yorkshire’s only specialist radiotherapy centre for children.

The technology will benefit around 100 children and young people each year, helping doctors and young people each year, helping doctors target tumours more precisely while reducing the risk of damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

Currently, young patients need small permanent tattoos on their skin to help medical teams position them accurately during treatment. Those receiving radiotherapy to the head or neck may also have to wear a mask covering their face to keep them still.

However, the new equipment uses advanced imaging to monitor patients’ positions, removing the need for permanent tattoos and allowing some children to use more comfortable open-face masks.

Improving accuracy is particularly important for younger patients, as radiation exposure to healthy tissue can cause complications later in life, including developmental problems, heart conditions and an increased risk of secondary cancers.

Alex Duckett, Chair of Trustees of the Luma Foundation, said: “Cancer treatment is difficult enough for any child without the added distress of permanent tattoos and uncomfortable masks.

“We want to help make that experience as safe and comfortable as possible.

“This technology will allow clinical teams to deliver treatment with greater precision while reducing some of the physical and emotional impact on young patients.”

Children travel to Leeds Cancer Centre from across Yorkshire and the Humber to receive specialist treatment.

The investment is part of the foundation’s wider programme to fund specialist equipment for children’s hospitals which cannot be covered by NHS budgets.

The charity has also raised £139,000 this year for nanopore sequencing technology at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, which could reduce the time taken to diagnose childhood brain tumours from six to eight weeks to just 24 hours.

The equipment will allow doctors to analyse tumour samples at the hospital rather than sending them to specialist laboratories elsewhere in the country.

Together, the Leeds and Sheffield projects represent £433,000 of the investment in specialist medical technology for children across Yorkshire in 2026.

Zoe Metcalfe, chief executive of the Luma Foundation, said: “These two projects show the difference that modern medical technology can make to children facing serious illnesses.

“In Leeds, we’re helping make cancer treatment more accurate and less distressing.”