'They froze out my lung tumour'

It meant that when doctors discovered a small tumour on one of her lungs, they were unable to operate.

But surgeons at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex chose Sheila, aged 58, for their innovative 'freeze therapy'.

Using a special probe, the doctors freeze tumours at temperatures of -190°C.

Ice

The tumour turns into an ice ball, and over the next three to six months it disintegrates.

Sheila says this pioneering treatment gave her a second chance.

"I am very lucky to be alive. I was lucky that they spotted the cancer and lucky to get the treatment.

"I had fallen and banged my ribs and it did not seem to be quite right.

"The first doctor I saw said if I had done anything to my ribs that it would have healed and there was nothing could be done.

"But the second one sent me for an X-ray and they told me there was a tumour.

"They told me that cryosurgery was the only way they could treat me because my lungs were so poor. I had been smoking since I was 14."

Progress

Four months later Sheila feels fully recovered, and the initial signs are that the cryosurgery has worked.

"They told me at the hospital that I have years ahead of me. I feel very lucky to be alive.

"Before this I did not know much about lung cancer, but reading about it now I realise that you are lucky to live four months to a year."

Sheila, who has four adult daughters as well as an eight-year-old son, said she now wants to warn everyone she sees of the dangers of smoking.

"I just want to tell everyone to stop and say don't do it. It is just not worth the risk.

"I look at people and feel I should say to them it really is not worth it. I was really lucky others might not be as lucky."

Mr Omar Maiwand, a consultant thoracic surgeon at Harefield Hospital, said about 2,000 lung cancer patients a year in the UK could be eligible for cryosurgery.

He said this sort of surgery was sometimes the only way forward for 20% of patients who, like Sheila, have poor lung function.

"She presented with a small tumour and was a heavy smoker.

"Although it was only a small tumour she wouldn't have been eligible for normal lung removal as this would have left her with poor breathing and worse lung function because of her history of smoking.

"Radiotherapy would have killed her cancer, but would have also taken away her healthy lung tissue. Now after her cryosurgery she is free from cancer and leading a normal life again."

Work needed

Mr Maiwand said that the early results were very promising, but that more cases would need to be done for a fully evaluated study.

"When patients have a blockage, like a tumour, the air cannot get to their lungs.

"Over the last few years other medical centres have been using cryosurgery for treating skin cancers and cancers of the liver and prostate and a lot of clinical research has shown that low temperatures can treat cancers effectively.

"We decided to trial cryosurgery techniques on patients with small tumours of the lung.

"Some 10-12% of our patients present with small tumours, but are so breathless, due to a history of heavy smoking, that normal removal of the lung or even part of the lung affected by cancer is not an option for them as it would leave them with further breathing difficulties and a poor quality of life.

"In the last two and a half years we have given patients who are not deemed 'fit for treatment' this new cryosurgery technique."

Julia Beeson, cryosurgery research sister at Harefield Hospital, said the surgery was proving very successful.

"Cryosurgery destroys the lung tumour and prevents other life-threatening complications such as chest infections and pneumonia developing, which this group of patients are very susceptible to.

"The research study is showing positive and encouraging results for patients with early stage lung cancer.

"It is still early days but we are hoping this will be a potential cure for previously inoperable lung cancer patients.

"We have done 19 operations so far and the results are very encouraging and we hope to increase the numbers having the operation."